The Congressional Medal of Honour

The thenar of purity is the highest phalanx decoration awarded by the get together States government. It is given to a member of the United States armed forces who identifyes himself conspicuously by gallantry and valor at the risk of his vitality above and beyond the discover of art while pursue in an bodily function against an resistance of the United States. Because of the temperament of its criteria, the palm is often awarded posthumously. Members of all branches of the U. S. array atomic number 18 eligible to secure the laurel, and from all(prenominal) one attend to has a unique number with the exception of the oceanic Corps and seacoast Guard, which both use the dark glums ribbon.The laurel of watch over is often presented personally to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin, by the chairwoman of the United States. Due to its high status, the thread has special rampart under U. S. law. The typewriter thenar of pri ze is one of devil troops come order awards issued by the United States Armed aims, notwithstanding is the sole contend order awarded to its members. The other is the Commanders Degree of the Legion of chastity and is only authorize for issue to foreign dignitaries comparable to a US military boss of staff.While American service members are eligible for the Legion of Merit, they are awarded the lowest degree, Legionnaire, which is a standard suspended ornament. The laurel is frequently, albeit incorrectly, called the congressional ornament of award, stemming from its award by the Department of Defence in the pass water of Congress. The first formal system for rewarding acts of individual gallantry by American soldiers was established by George Washington on August 7, 1782, when he created the Badge of Military Merit, de sign-language(a) to recognize any singularly worthy action.This decoration is Americas first combat award and the second oldest American military deco ration of any type, by and by the Fidelity palmlion. Although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary state of war, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. armed forces had been established. In 1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American contend, a Certificate of Merit was established for soldiers who marvelous themselves in action. The certificate was later granted medal status as the Certificate of Merit laurel wreath.Early in the Civil War, a medal for individual valour was proposed by Iowa Senator jam W. Grimes to Winfield Scott, the Commanding General of the United States host. Scott did not approve the proposal, but the medal did come into use in the dark blue. Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy decoration of Valour, was signed into law by hot seat Abraham Lincoln on celestial latitude 21, 1861. The medal was to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsm en, and Marines as shall nigh distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seaman standardised qualities during the present war. secretaire of the Navy Gideon Welles directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new decoration. Shortly afterward, a resolution of similar wording was introduced on behalf of the the States and was signed into law on July 12, 1862. This measure provided for awarding a typewriter ribbon of observe, as the Navy version also came to be called to such non-com chargeed officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection. The Medal of Honour has evolved in appearance since its creation in 1862.The present Army medal consists of a gold star surrounded by a wreath, topped by an eagle on a bar engraved with the word Valour. The medal is attached by a hook to a light blue moire. There is a version of the medal for each branch of the U. S. armed force s the Army, Navy and rail line Force. Since the U. S. Marine Corps is administratively a part of the Department of the Navy, Marines receive the Navy medal. Before 1965, when the U. S. dividing line Force design was adopted, members of the U. S. Army Air Corps, U. S. Army Air Forces, and Air Force current the Army version of the medal.The Coast Guard Medal of Honour, which was august from the Navy medal in 1963, has never been awarded, partly because the U. S. Coast Guard is subsumed into the U. S. Navy in clip of declared war. No design yet exists for it. Only one member of the Coast Guard has received a Medal of Honour, Signalman 1st score Douglas Munro, who was awarded the Navy version for action during the Battle of Guadalcanal. In the rare cases, 19 so far, where a service member has been awarded more than one Medal of Honour, current regulations specify that an hold award device be cantered on the Medal of Honour medallion and neck medal.To indicate multiple presentati ons of the Medal of Honour, the U. S. Army and Air Force bestow oak leaf clusters, while the Navy Medal of Honour is worn with gold award stars. A yarn which is the same fill out of light blue as the neckband, and includes phoebe bird washcloth stars, pointed upwards, in the signifier of an M is worn for situations other than full dress uniform. When the ribbon is worn, it is situated alone above the centre of the other ribbons. For wear with civilian clothing, a rosette is issued instead of a miniature lapel pin (which usually shows the ribbon bar).The rosette is the same shade of blue as the neck ribbon and includes white stars. The ribbon and rosette are presented at the same judgment of conviction as the medal. On October 23, 2003 a Medal of Honour flag was to be presented to recipients of the decoration. The flag was based on a concept by retired Army Special Forces 1SG. Bill Kendall of Jefferson, Iowa, who designed a flag to honour Medal of Honour recipient Captain Darr ell Lindsey. Kendalls design of a light blue field emblazoned with thirteen white five-pointed stars was nearly identical to that of Sarah LeClercs of the Institute of Heraldry.LeClercs design, finally accepted as the official flag, does not include the words Medal of Honour and is fringed in gold. The colour of the field and the 13 white stars, arranged in the form of a three bar chevron, consisting of deuce chevrons of 5 stars and one chevron of 3 stars, replicate the Medal of Honour ribbon. The flag has no set proportions. The first Medal of Honour recipient to receive the official flag was Paul R. Smith. The flag was cased and presented to his family along with his medal.A special ceremony presenting this flag to 60 Medal of Honour recipients was held onboard the USS Constitution TemplateWP Ships USS instances on September 30, 2006. There are two distinct protocols for awarding the Medal of Honour. The first and most common is nominating speech by a service member in the chai n of command, followed by approval at each level of command. The other method is nomination by a member of Congress and approval by a special act of Congress. In either case, the Medal of Honour is presented by the President on behalf of the Congress.Several months after President Abraham Lincoln signed Public Resolution 82 into law on December 21, 1861, a similar resolution for the Army was passed. Six Union soldiers who hijacked the General, a partner locomotive were the first recipients. Raid leader pack J. Andrews, a civilian hanged as a Union spy, did not receive the medal. many a(prenominal) Medals of Honour awarded in the 19th century were associated with saving the flag, not just for fast(a) reasons, but because the flag was a primary means of battlefield communication.During the time of the Civil War, no other military award was authorized, and to many this explains why some seemingly less notable actions were recognized by the Medal of Honour during that war. The crite ria for the award tightened after macrocosm War I. In the post- solid ground War II era, many eligible recipients might instead have got been awarded a Silver Star, Navy Cross or similar award. During the Civil War, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton promised a Medal of Honour to every man in the twenty-seventh Regiment, Maine ft who extended his enlistment beyond the agreed upon date.Many stayed four days extra, and then were discharged. Due to confusion, Stanton awarded a Medal of Honour to all 864 men in the regiment. In 1916, a board of five Army generals convened by law to review every Army Medal of Honour awarded. The commission, led by Nelson Miles, recommended that the Army rescind 911 medals. This included the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine, 29 who served as Abraham Lincolns funeral guard, six civilians (including Dr Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to have been awarded the medal), Buffalo Bill Cody, and 12 others whose awards were judged frivolous.Dr. Walkers medal was equilibriumored posthumously by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Codys award was restored in 1989. Early in the twentieth century, the Navy awarded many Medals of Honour for peacetime bravery. For instance, seven sailors aboard the USS Iowa received the medal when a boiler exploded on January 25, 1904. Aboard the USS Chicago in 1901, John Henry Helms received the medal for saving Ishi Tomizi, the ships cook, from drowning. Even after world War I, Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett received the medal for exploration of the North Pole. doubting Thomas J.Ryan received it for saving a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in Yokohama, Japan following the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake. Between 1919 and 1942, the Navy issued two reveal versions of the Medal of Honour, one for non-combat bravery and the other for combat-related acts. Official accounts vary, but chiefly the non-combat Medal of Honour was known as the Tiffany Cross, after the company that manufacture the medal. The Tiffany Cross was first issued in 1919 but was rare and unpopular, partly because it was presented both for combat and non-combat events.As a result, in 1942, the United States Navy reverted to a single Medal of Honour, awarded only for heroism. Since the beginning of World War II, the medal has been awarded for extreme bravery beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against an adversary. Arising from these criteria, approximately 60% of the medals earned during and after World War II have been awarded posthumously. Capt. William McGonagle is an exception to the enemy action rule, earning his medal during the USS Liberty incident.A 1993 field of view commissioned by the Army exposit systematic racial and religious discrimination in the criteria for awarding medals during World War II. At the time, no Medals of Honour had been awarded to baleful soldiers who served in World War II. After an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that several black Distingu ished Service Cross recipients be upgraded to the Medal of Honour. On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded the medal to seven African American World War II veterans. Of these, only Vernon Baker was still alive.A similar study of Asian Americans in 1998 resulted in President Bill Clinton awarding 21 new Medals of Honour in 2000, including 20 to Japanese American members of the 442nd regimental Combat Team, among them Senator Daniel Inouye. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded the Medal of Honour to Judaic veteran and Holocaust survivor Tibor Rubin, whom many believed to have been overlooked because of his religion. This medals history stretches back into our bloody war history, it has seen its own trials and tribulations and like America is has grown and melded itself into the prestigious award that it is today.I believe the medal has been properly issued to service members and at the same time given away(p) freely, but that does not take away from the honour and r espect each recipient deserves. These recipients are text book example of perfect military stature and then some. All of them go above and beyond anyones expectations that even they themselves had. The most surprising thing is that all of them did these marvellous and object blowing deeds of service at such a young military age, the same and even younger age of my own.It not only blows my intellectual at how they accomplish or even began to go through with what they did but they did it without an order or a self doubt, to me they got in the perfect outlook of selfless service and their one goal was to help other and do it the mission. My first pick of recipients is occult First kin Willy F. pack, U. S. Army, Company G, 413th Infantry near Lippoldsberg, Germany, 7 April 1945. snobbish First branch Willy F. James, Jr. distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism at the risk of his own life on 7 April 1945 in the Weser River Valley, in the vicinity of Lippoldsberg, Germany.O n 7 April 1945, Company G, 413th Infantry, fought its way across the Weser River in order to establish a crucial bridgehead. The company then launched a fierce attack against the townspeople of Lippoldsberg, possession of which was vital to securing and expanding the important bridgehead. Private First segmentation James was first scout of the lead police squad in the assault platoon. The mission of the unit was to seize and secure a host of houses on the butt against of town, a foothold from which the unit could launch an attack on the rest of the town. Far out in the front, Private First course of instruction James was the first to draw enemy squeeze out.His platoon leader came forward to investigate, but distressing visibility made it difficult for Private First Class James to point out enemy locates with any accuracy. Private First Class James volunteered to go forward to fully reconnoiter the enemy situation. fantastic crossfire from enemy snipers and machine guns fin ally pinned down Private First Class James after he had made his way forward approximately 200 yards across devote terrain. Lying in an exposed position for more than an hour, Private First Class James intrepidly observe the enemys positions, which were given away by the fire he was daringly drawing upon himself.Then, with utter indifference to his personal safety, in a storm of enemy small arms fire, Private First Class James made his way back more than three hundred yards across open terrain under enemy observation to his platoon positions, and gave a full small report on the enemy disposition. The unit worked out a new plan of maneuver based on Private First Class Jamess information. The gallant soldier volunteered to lead a squad in an assault on the key house in the group that formed the platoon objective.He made his way forward, leading his squad in an assault on the strongly-held enemy positions in the building and designating targets accurately and always as he moved al ong. While doing so, Private First Class James saw his platoon leader shot down by enemy snipers. Hastily designating and coolly orienting a leader in his place, Private First Class James instantly went to the aid of his platoon leader, exposing himself recklessly to the ageless enemy fire. As he was making his way across open ground, Private First Class James was killed by a cashier from an enemy machine gun.Private First Class Jamess extraordinarily heroic action in the face of withering enemy fire provided the disposition of enemy troops to his platoon. Inspired to the utmost by Private First Class Jamess self sacrifice, the platoon bear on the momentum of the assault and supremacyfully accomplished its mission with a borderline of casualties. Private First Class James contributed very definitely to the success of his battalion in the vitally important combat operation of establishing and expanding a bridgehead over the Weser River.His fearless, self-assigned actions far abo ve and beyond the normal call of duty exemplify the finest traditions of the American combat soldier and reflect the highest opinion upon Private First Class James and the Armed Forces of the United States. Private First Class James is a prime example of what a man should be. He ran through enemy fire, and then while in the midst of the fire still had the discipline and the bravery to observe fire positions and any other useful information that he could see from his position. On top of that he still was able to fall back to his platoon 300 meters behind him.