Olson salutes Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry at a ceremony at The Pentagon. Laszlo Rabel, born in Hungary, killed in Vietnam Recipients have the rare privilege of getting saluted by senior officers, including the PresidentĪlongside this, a Medal of Honor recipient is by default invited to all Presidential inaugurations for life. In fact, sixty-five recipients of the Medal of Honor have been Canadians who served with the US armed forces.Īltogether, more than eight hundred non-citizens have been decorated with the Medal of Honor.Īlthough you needn’t be a U.S citizen, you have to be serving with the US military in order to be eligible for the award. Young boy wearing Union Army uniform holds drum, circa 1861 It can be awarded to non-citizens It is safe, though, to say that Jack Lucas is the youngest man to receive the Medal of Honor for combat service. Some may argue that the recognition for the youngest recipient should go to the indestructible Jack Lucas–who got the award at 17 for jumping over two grenades to save his comrades–owing to the fact that the medal in the modern sense is dedicated to combat service.īut the Medal of Honor of the Civil War days is still the Medal of Honor of today, and although he was not a combatant, Willie’s medal was never revoked.
Mary Edwards Walker in around 1911 The youngest recipient of the award was only 13 years oldĭrummer boy Willie Johnston received the prestigious award at the age of 13 for his commendable composure during the Civil War. However, in 1977, five decades after her death, her Medal of Honor was restored. Notably, her award was revoked in 1917 because she was a civilian and the updated criteria of the award strictly focused on combat service. At the outbreak of the Civil War, she volunteered with the Union Army, serving temporarily as a nurse before going on to become the first female surgeon of the Army. 23, 2017 The Medal of Honor has only had one female recipient Florent “Flo” Groberg places his medal on fire hose transformed into the American Flag during a troop engagement with airmen assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Dhafra Air Base Dec. Having been in existence for about 155 years, the Medal of Honor, being the highest military decoration of the United States, continues to recognize and reward U.S servicemembers for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life.”īelow are 22 things you probably don’t know about the Medal of Honor: Medal of Honor recipient retired Army Capt. Medal of Honor recipients, and other visitors, watch an Army full honors wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, March 25, 2016, Arlington, Va.
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