The Medal off Honor (Medal of honor) is the highest military distinction of the the United States of America. There are three different versions: that of the US Army, that of the US Navy, and that of the US Air Force. The ribbon of the medal is on the other hand identical in the three versions. The medal is sometimes named by error Médaille of honor of the congress because the US president gives the reward in the name of the Congrès of the United States. The medal rewards a member for the American army who was distinguished by putting his life in danger, with the profit of the general interest by achieving an act of heroism or bravery exceptional to the combat, such as nonthe achievement of this act could not have been reproached interested or for the rescue and protection for an important personality or a representative for the US government (Reform of 2002 on the Patriot Act ).

The Médaille is offered in clean hand by the President of the United States if the interested party is always alive or it is given to the family on a purely posthumous basis if the interested party is deceased. The statute of the medal is protected by the American laws.

The medal is one of the two only medals offered by the American army which exclusively go to the neck and the only one of both reserved to the members of the American armed forces. The other medal is the Legion off Merit (Legion of the merit) which gives the degree Commander' S Degree to foreign dignitaries. The American soldiers receiving the Legion off Merit are rewarded by the Legionnaire' S Degree which is not held by the neck but is not pinned on the level of the chest.

Origin

The first official system to reward for the acts of heroism of American soldiers is established the August 7th 1782 by George Washington when this one creates off the Badge Military Merit (Badge of the military merit). This badge is supposed to recognize “any action deserving in combat”. It is about the first American military reward in combat and the second military American reward after the medal Fidelity Medallion.

Although the badge of the merit falls in disuse after the Guerre from independence from the United States of America, the concept of rewards of the American soldiers having shown heroism to the combat becomes a tradition then. In 1847, at the time of the américano-Mexican War, a Certificat of the Merit is created for the soldiers who were distinguished at the time of the engagements. This certificate off gains then the statute of medal under the name of Certificate Merit Medal.

At the beginning of the American Civil War, the idea of a medal to reward the individual value for the soldiers is proposed by James W. Grimes with Winfield Scott which is then the general-in-chief of the American army. Scott does not approve the idea but the medal nevertheless is used in US Navy. The public resolution 82 creating this medal for Navy is thus signed and transposed in law by the president Abraham Lincoln the December 21st 1861. The medal can at that time “be granted to the sailors, with the naval officers, the soldiers on the ground and the navy which was characterized by their bravery and their quality from sailor in time of war”.

The Secrétaire of Navy Gideon Welles directs work of the Philadelphia Mint which must conceive the aspect of the new decoration. Little time after, a resolution in the name of the army is transposed in law the July 12th 1862. This resolution creates off the concept of the Medal Honor . The version of Navy is quickly attached to this concept having to reward at the time: the Warrant officer S and the privates who were characterized by their bravery with the combat and for their quality from soldiers in time from Insurrection.

In 1916, a committee elected by the legislative power and composed of five generals re-studies all the medals offered hitherto. This committee recommends to withdraw 911 medals. These medals come from the 864 soldiers of the 27e regiment, of the 29 funerary guards of Abraham Lincoln, of six civilians of which the lady doctor Mary Edwards Walker (the only woman having then received this honor), Buffalo Bill and of twelve other recipients whose action seemed to lack bravery. The medal of Mary Edwards Walker nevertheless will be returned on a purely posthumous basis in 1977 by the president Jimmy Carter.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Navy offers many medals for facts of bravery in times of peace. Thus, seven sailors of the ship USS '' Iowa '' receive the medal following the explosion of a Chaudière on January 25th, 1904. In 1901, John Henry Helms receives the medal to have saved drowning the cook Ishi Tomizi of the ship USS '' Chicago ''. After the First World War Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett receives the medal for their exploration of the North pole. In 1923, Thomas John Ryan receives the medal to have saved a woman of the flames in the Grand Hotel of Yokohama to the Japan following the Earthquake of Kantō of 1923.

Between 1919 and 1942, Navy off employs two versions distinct from Medal Honor, for acts of bravery to the combat and another for the acts of bravery except combat. The medal gained with the combat names then " Tiffany Cross" according to the name of the company carrying out this medal. This specific medal leaves in 1919 but remains rare and unpopular. In answer to this unpopularity, Navy starts again to offer only one medal, only allotted for heroic actions.

Since the beginning of the Second world war, the medal is only offered for exceptional facts of bravery at the time of combat under the fire of the enemy. Because of this hardening of the criteria, more than 60% of the medals as from this moment are offered on a purely posthumous basis. The Captain William McGonagle is an exception because this one was killed at the time of the accident of the Incident TO USE Liberty under the friendly fire of the Israeli .

Discusses

A study of 1993 required by the army concludes with a racial discrimination and systematic nun in the rewards offered at the time of the Second world war. No medal had been allotted to a soldier Afro-American during this war. After study of the filed files, the study recommends to replace certain medals (Distinguished Service Cross-country race) offered to blacks by the medal of honor. January 13rd, 1997, the president Bill Clinton offers the medal to seven black veterans of the second world war. Only the veteran Vernon Baker is then always in life.

Aspect

The appearance of the medal evolves/moves since its creation in 1862. The current version of the Army represents a gilded star surrounded by a crown surmounted of an eagle on a bar where it is registered " Valor". The medal is attached by a hook to silk a blue ribbon of approximately 30 mm of width and 552 mm length.

There exist nevertheless three different versions: that of the Army (US Army), that of the navy (US Navy) and that of the air force (US Air Force). Since the body of the marines belongs to US Navy, this one uses the medal of Navy. Before the creation of the version of the US Air Force in 1965, this army uses the same medal as that of the Army.

In 1963, the medal for the coastguard of the United States is separated from that of Navy but no person received it since her creation and no specific form exists in 2007. Indeed, the coastguards form integral part of Navy in time of war and they receive the medal of Navy consequently… The only member of the Coast Guard having received the medal of Navy is it first class Douglas Munro which is rewarded for its action at the time of the naval Bataille of Guadalcanal.

In the extremely rare case (19 on the whole until 2007) where a soldier is rewarded of more than one medal, laws specify that a suitable element must be centered on the ribbon of the medal. This element represents sheets of oaks in US Army and the US Air Force whereas the element of US Navy represents gilded stars.

A blue ribbon carrying five white stars laid out in form of a M is used to be used as support with the medal when the person does not carry a uniform. The spangled ribbon is fixed on civil clothing by a pin of the same color and also carrying five white stars. This ribbon goes in supplement to the medal held with the level of the neck.

The design of the flag rests on a project imagined by the first sergeant Bill Kendall of the special forces of the Army. The blue flag of Kendall which is decorated with thirteen white stars carries off the text Medal Honor . The flag finally selected does not have this text and its contour moreover is gilded. The stars are laid out in three V reversed of which two comprise five stars and of which one has three of them.

The first medal-holder to receive the flag at the same time as the medal is Paul R. Smith.

Member elects

On the whole: 3464 medals were given to: 3445 member elects. Nineteen people received twice the medal including fourteen per two different actions and five for the same action but rewarded once by Navy and once by the Army. Since the beginning of the second world war: 853 medals including 527 posthumous was offered. On the whole, 617 medals were given on a purely posthumous basis what shows the hardening of the criteria since the Second world war.

Although the current laws going back to 1918 impose the membership on the army at the time of its action to receive the medal, there exist some exceptions. For example the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who is then a member reservist of the air force, carries out his action when it is pilot in the civilian. A medal of honor is also offered to the monument of the British unknown soldier the October 17th 1921 by the general Pershing. Reciprocally, the monument of the American unknown soldier is rewarded by the Victoria Cross which is the highest British distinction. Besides these some exceptions, only the soldiers of the American army can be rewarded for their actions for bravery to the combat. It is however to note that the fact of having American nationality is not pre-necessary. 61 Canadian pertaining to the American army thus received this medal, as a majority during the American Civil War. Since 1900, only four Canadian soldiers members of the American army received the medal. During the war of Vietnam, Peter C. Lemon was the only soldier of Canadian nationality to receive the medal.

The medal is offered only five times since the American withdrawal of the Vietnam in 1973, each time on a purely posthumous basis. The two first reward the sergeant first classifies Randy Shughart and the sergeant chief Gary Gordon who defended in 1993 a pilot officer nailed on the ground following the crushing of his helicopter Black Hawk under the enemy shootings during the Bataille of Mogadiscio in Somalia. The following reward the sergeant first classifies Paul R. Smith who defended in Iraq in 2003 a full medical station American soldiers wounded by killing 50 Iraqi attackers close to the International airport of Baghdad. January 11th, 2007, the president George W. Bush reward the corporal Jason Dunham who lay down on a grenade which was going to explode during a combat in Iraq at the Syrian border in order to protect several from his/her companions.

October 22nd, 2007, the lieutenant of Navy Michael P. Murphy also receives on a purely posthumous basis the medal for his actions of June 28th, 2005 in Afghanistan in the mountains of the Hindu Kush.

Privileges

The medal of honor offers privileges to the recipients as well by tradition as in the law. By tradition, all the other soldiers, including the officers of higher rows, greet the carrier of the medal. The officers do not greet really the person but their gesture is addressed rather to the medal and sometimes safety is prolonged towards the carrier. The law also gives several advantages to the carriers of the medal:

  • Each carrier can require that its name be added to the list of the medal-holders (Medal off Honor Roll). That thus enables him to receive a pension of more than 1.000 dollars per month. This pension is indexed according to the cost of living.

  • Each carrier registered on the list can receive an additional uniform.
  • Each carrier receives special rights for air transport.
  • Each carrier receives specific charts of identification and at privileged cost.
  • Their children are eligible for the admission in the American military academies and are not obstructed by the quotas of entry in these institutions.
  • Each carrier receives an increase of 10% on its normal pension.
  • the carriers rewarded after October 23rd, 2002 and the carriers always in life on this date receive in more the flag of the medal of honor.

Legal protection

Until the end 2006, decoration was only protected by a federal law against the imitation and the private sale. This protection since is extended to other decorations.

Very reached physical or verbal against a carrier of the medal is a federal crime. The carrier which can be the soldier decorated with the medal or any person authorized by this soldier to carry the medal. Any diversion, including the manufacture or the unauthorized port of the medal, is punishable of a Amende and a imprisonment (Code 18-704) more severe than for the other medals.

Reinforcement of protection

HLI Lordship Industries Inc., a former manufacturer of the medal of honor, receives a fine in 1996 to have sold 300 false medals for an unit price of 75 dollars.

An inhabitant of Fort Lauderdale in Florida is shown to carry a medal which it does not deserve. Instead of spending six months in prison, the federal judge condemns it to one year in probation and obliges it to always write a letter of excuses to the 171 carriers of the medal in life at the time. The letter is even published in a local newspaper.

In 2003, Edward Fedora and Gisela Fedora are accused to have resold the medals of the soldier Robert Blume (action in the Guerre Spanish-American) and of the sergeant George Washington Roosevelt (action in the American Civil War) with an agent of FBI. Edward Fedora, a Canadian business man, pleads guilty and is imprisoned.

See too

Other decorations in the United States

These important decorations sometimes bearing a name similar to the medal of honor are not dependant there and the criteria of attribution are different.

Several decorations protected by the law sometimes also bear the name of " Medal off Honor". The Public Safety Officer Medal off Valor, established by the congress in 2001, is " the highest national reward rewarding the value for an officer of safety civile" .

External bonds

  • Site of the CMOHS

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