Living MoH recipient possible, Gates says

Living MoH recipient possible, Gates says

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 17, 2009 20:04:12 EDT

No living service member has been awarded the Medal of Honor during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That could finally be changing.

On the same day that President Barack Obama presented a posthumous Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti at the White House, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said reviews are underway that may result in the nation’s top military honor being presented to a living recipient of the current wars.

During a Thursday news conference at the Pentagno, Gates was asked: “Has no one [in the two wars] performed an act of courage worthy of the Medal of Honor and lived through it?”

“This has been a source of real concern to me,” Gates said. “We are looking at this. Without getting into any detail … there are some [award recommendations] in process.

“It is, as everybody knows, a very time-intensive, thorough process. But I would say that I’ve been told there are some living potential recipients that have been put forward.”

Only six of nation’s highest award for valor have been issued during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have lasted 6½ and 8 years, respectively. Four were awarded for acts of heroism in Iraq; Monti’s award brought the Afghanistan total to two.

The 16-year conflict in Vietnam, by contrast, produced 246 awards of the Medal of Honor.
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Living MoH recipient possible, Gates says