The Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor

Author: The Editors of Boston Publishing Company

Publisher: Zenith Press

Published: 2014-10

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 0760346240

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A comprehensive history of America's highest award for military valor. The Medal of Honor chronicles the creation, evolution, and awarding of the Medal, from the battlefields of the Civil War to the jungles of Vietnam, through a wealth of illustrations and hundreds of authoritative, action-filled accounts of heroism in America's conflicts. This wonderfully detailed and beautifully designed history book puts the Medal and its recipients into the context of their times, with brief and accessible introductions explaining each war and conflict for which the Medal was awarded. It also includes photo essays, intriguing stories of the Medal's sometimes quirky personalities, effects on surviving recipients, and the Medal's preeminent place in the American story. Whether you're an avid reader on the history of the Medal of Honor or simply intrigued by its place in our history, you're certain to want to flip through the pages of The Medal of Honor again and again.

Immortal Valor
Immortal Valor

Author: Robert Child

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-01-06

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1472852869

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The remarkable story of the seven African American soldiers ultimately awarded the World War II Medal of Honor, and the 50-year campaign to deny them their recognition. In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during World War II, they recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 recipients. Despite the fact that more than one million African-Americans served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor. The omission remained on the record for over four decades. But recent historical investigations have brought to light some of the extraordinary acts of valor performed by black soldiers during the war. Men like Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machineguns, an observation post, and a German dugout. Or Sergeant Reuben Rivers, who spearhead his tank unit's advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded. Meanwhile Lieutenant Charles Thomas led his platoon to capture a strategically vital village on the Siegfried Line in 1944 despite losing half his men and suffering a number of wounds himself. Ultimately, in 1993 a US Army commission determined that seven men, including Baker, Rivers and Thomas, had been denied the Army's highest award simply due to racial discrimination. In 1997, more than 50 years after the war, President Clinton finally awarded the Medal of Honor to these seven heroes, sadly all but one of them posthumously. These are their stories.

Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients

Author: Kieran Doherty

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 9780766010260

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The recipients of this highest honor have been as diverse as the United States itself. Included among the ten heroes in this book are three from the civil War: the first soldier to receive the honor; the first African American; and the first woman, a doctor. From World War I there is a pioneering flying ace, and from World War II, a navy skipper of a PT boat. A native American and Japanese American were both honored for courage in the Korean War, and a Hispanic American, for service in the Vietnam conflict. Two posthumous awards were given to soldiers for valor in Somalia. Their childhoods as well as their heroic action under fire are described. The recipients include Jacob Parrott, William Carney, Mary Edwards Walker, Eddie Rickenbacker, Alvin York, John Bulkeley, Mitchell Red Cloud, Hiroshi Miyamura, Jay Vargas, and Gary Gordon and Randall Shughart.

The Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor

Author: Dwight S. Mears

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2018-08-22

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0700626654

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The Medal of Honor may be America’s highest military decoration, but all Medals of Honor are not created equal. The medal has in fact consisted of several distinct decorations at various times and has involved a number of competing statutes and policies that rewarded different types of heroism. In this book, the first comprehensive look at the medal’s historical, legal, and policy underpinnings, Dwight S. Mears charts the complex evolution of these developments and differences over time. The Medal of Honor has had different qualification thresholds at different times, and indeed three separate versions—one for the army and two for the navy—existed contemporaneously between World Wars I and II. Mears traces these versions back to the medal’s inception during the Civil War and continues through the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—along the way describing representative medal actions for all major conflicts and services as well as legislative and policy changes contemporary to each period. He gives particular attention to retroactive army awards for the Civil War; World War I legislation that modernized and expanded the army’s statutory award authorization; the navy’s grappling with both a combat and noncombat Medal of Honor through much of the twentieth century; the Vietnam-era act that ended noncombat awards and largely standardized the Medal of Honor among all services; and the perceived decline of Medals of Honor awarded in the ongoing Global War on Terror. Mears also explores the tradition of awards via legislative bills of relief; extralegislative awards; administrative routes to awards through Boards of Correction of Military Records; restoration of awards previously revoked by the army in 1917; judicial review of military actions in federal court; and legislative actions intended to atone for historical discrimination against ethnic minorities. Unprecedented in scope and depth, his work is sure to be the definitive resource on America’s highest military honor.

8 Seconds of Courage
8 Seconds of Courage

Author: Flo Groberg

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2017-11-07

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1501165887

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Describes the author's childhood relocation from France to the U.S., where as a naturalized citizen he joined the military and served multiple tours in Afghanistan before he was wounded while protecting his patrol from a suicide bomber.

War Heroes
War Heroes

Author: Kent DeLong

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1993-07-27

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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Fifteen recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor recount the deeds that brought them the prestigious award.

Vietnam Medal of Honor Heroes
Vietnam Medal of Honor Heroes

Author: Edward F. Murphy

Publisher: Presidio Press

Published: 2005-03-29

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0345476182

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More than 100 compelling, true stories of personal heroism and valor– in a special expanded edition honoring courage in the face of war Here are dramatic accounts of the fearless actions that earned American soldiers in Vietnam our highest military distinction–the Medal of Honor. Edward F. Murphy, head of the Medal of Honor Historical Society, re-creates the heroic acts of individual soldiers from official documents, Medal of Honor citations, contemporary accounts, and, where possible, interviews with survivors. Complete with a list of all Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients, this book offers a unique perspective on the war–from the early days of U.S. involvement through the return home of the last soldiers. It pays a fitting tribute to these patriotic, selfless souls.

The Making of a Hero
The Making of a Hero

Author: Linda Moss Mines

Publisher: National Center for Youth Issues

Published: 2021-03-16

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13: 1953945252

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Being a HERO means overcoming tremendous odds through sacrifice, service, and holding to important values. In The Making of a Hero, Linda Moss Mines introduces children to the important values of patriotism, citizenship, courage, integrity, sacrifice, and commitment. This book tells the story of six Americans-Arthur MacArthur (Civil War), George Jordan (Buffalo Soldier), Alvin C. York (World War I), Desmond Doss (World War II), Ray Duke (Korean War), and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (Civil War)-who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award given to a member of the armed forces for valor. Each individual showed great courage and bravery in the face of fear, some even giving the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. Through these inspiring stories, children will learn that they, too, can model these values in their daily decisions and in the way they serve those around them. They will realize the potential to make a real difference in their community, country, and world!

Choosing Courage
Choosing Courage

Author: Peter Collier

Publisher: Artisan Books

Published: 2015-05-19

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1579656609

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How does an ordinary person become a hero? It happens in a split second, a moment of focus and clarity, when a choice is made. Here are the gripping accounts of Medal of Honor recipients who demonstrated guts and selflessness on the battlefield and confronted life-threatening danger to make a difference. There are the stories of George Sakato and Vernon Baker—both of whom overcame racial discrimination to enlist in the army during World War II (Sakato was a second-generation Japanese American, Baker an African American) and went on to prove that heroes come in all colors—and Clint Romesha, who led his outnumbered fellow soldiers against a determined enemy to prevent the Taliban from taking over a remote U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan. Also included are civilians who have been honored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation for outstanding acts of bravery in crisis situations, from a school shooting to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Adding depth and context are illuminating essays on the combat experience and its aftermath, covering topics such as overcoming fear; a mother mourning the loss of her son; and “surviving hell” as a prisoner of war.