Tennessee boasts 32 of the Medal of Honor Recipients

A look at Tennessee's Medal of Honor recipients and their stories

Chattanooga Times Free Press
by Sabrina Bodon
February 1st, 2020

The state of Tennessee boasts 32 of the medal's 3,525 honorees thus far, including a Signal Mountain native for whom the new Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center is named.

Medal of Honor awards are displayed during the third annual Celebration of Valor luncheon at the Chattanooga Convention Center on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. / Staff file photo

On multiple occasions, while awarding the Medal of Honor, President Harry S. Truman remarked, "I would rather have the blue band of the Medal of Honor around my neck than to be president of the United States." But when Congress attempted to award the badge to him in 1971, he wrote to the House that he did " ... not consider that I have done anything which should be the reason of any award, Congressional or otherwise."

Truman continued, saying the medal was for combat bravery, and awarding it to him would detract from that significance.

"This does not mean I do not appreciate what you and others have done, because I do appreciate the kind things that have been said and the proposal to have the award offered to me," Truman wrote. "Therefore, I close by saying thanks, but I will not accept a Congressional Medal of Honor."

Fifty-two medals have been awarded for acts of valor that occurred in and around Chattanooga, including one to Mary Edwards Walker, the only female recipient. read it here

America Honors Heroic Men and Woman on Medal of Honor Day

Woman? Yes! Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Andrew Jackson.

MEDAL OF HONOR CONTROVERSY

In November 1865, having left government service for good, Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson, even though she was a civilian who had never been a commissioned officer in military service.

That civilian status is why Walker's medal was rescinded in 1917, two years before she died -- along with 910 others. Walker refused to return the medal, though, and continued to wear it until she died two years later.

Sixty years after that, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter restored the honor in her name, thanks to efforts made by her family.

Commentary: Medal of Honor Day reminds us there’s a hero in everyone
Military Times
Ret. Army Maj. Drew Dix
March 24, 2018

Medal of Honor recipients Mike Fitzmaurice and Will Swenson, center, participate in a wreath-laying ceremony commemorating valor and sacrifice on National Medal of Honor Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery on March 25. 2017. (Francis Chung/Defense Department)

On a hilltop in Arlington National Cemetery, servicemen from our nation’s wars, whose names we don’t know but whose service and sacrifice we will always remember, have found their final resting place in the Tomb of the Unknowns.

It’s fitting that these courageous Americans, who represent all who have worn the cloth of our great country, received our nation’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. In addition to these unknown heroes, for many of us Medal of Honor recipients, and for many veterans, Arlington National Cemetery evokes specific memories of incredible people we served with and long-ago battles we fought.

There are 71 living recipients of the Medal of Honor, and this week, 31 of my brothers are in our nation’s capital to commemorate National Medal of Honor Day, which falls every year on March 25. While they lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and render salutes as a lone bugler plays “Taps,” all of us, no matter where we are, will be paying our respects to the men and women who have served our great nation in uniform.

To a man, the privilege and burden of wearing the Medal of Honor is our opportunity to represent the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who have served, fought, and in some cases sacrificed their lives to preserve America’s liberty. All 71 of us have witnessed firsthand the ravages of the battlefield.
read more here

PBS:Medal of Honor history and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

PBS film highlights Medal of Honor’s history and its recipients
Providence Journal - Providence,RI,USA

PBS film highlights Medal of Honor’s history and its recipients

07:06 AM EST on Monday, November 3, 2008


Medal of Honor, a PBS documentary that will air nationwide Wednesday at 9 p.m., will present powerful stories of those who have received our nation’s highest military honor.

Produced and directed by Roger Sherman, the 90-minute film traces the medal’s history from its inception, during the Civil War, and profiles Sgt. Paul Smith, the first combatant in the Iraq war to receive it.

Among others profiled in the film are a Holocaust survivor who singlehandedly defended a hill from an advancing enemy force in the Korean War; a Navy SEAL who saved the lives of two comrades by swimming for two hours, while injured, to bring them to safety; and a Marine at Iwo Jima who alone silenced seven Japanese bunkers with a flamethrower.

Only one Medal of Honor has been awarded to a woman: Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War doctor captured and imprisoned as a spy by the Confederates. Her medal was revoked after the war, when the criteria were tightened so it could be awarded only to active-duty soldiers in battle. Walker, however, refused to give it back.click above for more