A destroyer escort was later named in his honor. Legislative and other efforts to upgrade the Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor have proven unsuccessful.
The reluctance to upgrade awards to the Medal of Honor or to award it outright is generally based on efforts to award the medal to those truly deserving, to maintain the integrity of the award itself and the awards process in general, and to avoid "opening the floodgates" to retroactive requests for this and other awards and decorations.
This reluctance has led many to feel that the system of awarding medals is overly restrictive and that certain individuals are denied earned medals. It is noteworthy that two MoH awards have gone "unclaimed. Furgol, the 20 th century produced at least one other unclaimed MoH from First, Congress waived the time limitation on any award or decoration for acts of valor during the Vietnam era 35 for actions in the Southeast Asia theater of operations.
Second, Congress waived the laws and regulations for awarding any decoration including the Medal of Honor for those so deserving who were serving in intelligence activities during the period January 1, December 31, This was later extended to February 9, The report was to contain.
These actions were taken in consideration of the fact that the records regarding intelligence activities are sealed for many years. Protecting this information for intelligence reasons means that those involved in intelligence activities are often ineligible to receive the Medal of Honor. In other words, should a person serving in intelligence perform an act of heroism worthy of the MoH, it is unlikely that the information could be publicly acknowledged.
If the information is ever declassified, it is usually years after the fact. This delay could well mean that the individual who performed the act of heroism would be ineligible for the medal because of time limits on making recommendations. The reasoning for this review was based on claims of discrimination towards Americans of Asian-Pacific descent during the war. For example, many Americans of Japanese descent were relocated to internment camps during the war.
Inouye were forwarded to a board of senior officers for review. This board considered whether any of the forwarded recipients met the criteria for an upgrade to MoH.
The list of those 22 Asian-Pacific Americans considered worthy of upgrading was then submitted to the President for final consideration. Based on such review, the Secretary shall make a determination as to the merits of approving the award or presentation of the decoration and other determinations necessary to comply with subsection b.
A notice under paragraph 1 and 4 shall be accompanied by a statement of the reasons for the decision of the Secretary. Under this language, Members of Congress are able to directly request the Secretary to consider awarding military decorations. Although this allows Members to better serve their constituents as well as fulfill their constitutional duties in providing oversight, critics contend that it may unduly politicize the awards process.
In April , despite restrictions on discussing awarding the Medal of Honor prematurely, the White House announced that it planned to award the medal to seven African American soldiers who fought in World War II. In the cases of living recipients Vernon J. Baker, Edward A. Carter, and Charles L. Thomas, their Medal of Honor pensions were awarded retroactively. On January 20, , President Clinton awarded retired U.
The original paperwork for his award was lost. Faded carbon copies of the recommendation surfaced in a fellow Marine's memorabilia and served as the basis for going forward with the award. Later in the same year, former U.
Ingram's "comrades discovered at a reunion that he was alive and had never been decorated for his heroism. Following the congressionally mandated waiver of the time limits in November , a review of Ingram's record resulted in the awarding of the medal. In a symbolic gesture, then-President Reagan awarded the medal to the Vietnam veteran interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery in On May 14, , the remains of the Vietnam veteran were exhumed.
Advances in forensic identification using DNA testing allowed the military to positively identify the remains as those of Air Force 1 st Lieutenant Michael Blassie, an A pilot who was killed in the battle of An Loc, Vietnam, on May 11, His remains were returned to his family in Missouri. Family members sought to retain the medal awarded in by then-President Reagan. The request to retain the medal was denied. The efforts of historians searching for cases justifying the presentation of the award to African American servicemembers in the World Wars, and the legislation allowing Congress to waive time restraints for such cases, unearthed a controversy regarding Theodore Roosevelt.
Representative McHale argued that the Medal was not awarded because of resentment generated as a result of Roosevelt's criticism of the War Department. Representatives of "Buffalo Soldiers" 57 claimed that providing the award to Roosevelt would give him Roosevelt credit for "their success" in battle.
Still others view this as the continuation of "identity politics" 59 driving the awarding of the MoH. In , Congress passed P. Military Medals and Decorations:.
The discharge certificate DD of a recipient of the Medal of Honor carries a notation of this award. Bush on December 20, P. The law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U. If the decoration was the Medal of Honor, a defendant could be imprisoned up to one year if convicted. In , Xavier Alvarez, an elected board member of a water district in Southern California, was charged with violating the law after stating at a public meeting that he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor after being wounded in action as a Marine.
On June 28, , in United States v. Alvarez , the U. Supreme Court overturned the original Stolen Valor Act of decision , deeming it unconstitutional because it was, in the Justices' opinion, too broad in scope and violated the right of free speech. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the court's opinion, said the act "would endorse government authority to compile a list of subjects about which false statements are punishable. As a result of the Supreme Court decision, legislation was introduced in the th Congress to protect the reputation and meaning of the decoration.
On June 3, , President Obama signed H. This law now makes it "a federal crime for an individual to fraudulently hold oneself out to be a recipient of any of several specified military decorations or medals with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit.
During the review, records of several soldiers of neither Jewish nor Hispanic descent were also found to display criteria worthy of the Medal of Honor.
The act was amended to allow these soldiers to be honored with the upgrade. As a result of the review, 24 recipients were honored in On March 18, , President Obama presented Medals of Honor to 24 recipients, all Army and many of whom were overlooked initially due to bias because they were Hispanic, Jewish, or African American. He remarked that this was the single largest group of servicemembers to be awarded the Medal of Honor since the Second World War. Each of these Soldiers' bravery was previously recognized by award of the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest military award; that award will be upgraded to the Medal of Honor in recognition of their gallantry, intrepidity and heroism above and beyond the call of duty.
Additionally, the President awarded Medals of Honor to living servicemembers of the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. White for saving a soldier's life and helping evacuate other wounded soldiers during an ambush in Afghanistan in White received the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat operations in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. Carpenter received the medal for taking the blast from a grenade to protect fellow Marines, sustaining major wounds that required over 40 surgeries to repair a collapsed lung, fractured fingers, a shattered right arm, and multiple skin grafts.
Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life while serving as a Forward Observer in 2d Platoon, Chosen Company, 2d Battalion Airborne , d Infantry Regiment, d Airborne Brigade, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler in the vicinity of Wanat Village, Kunar Province, Afghanistan on July 13, Sloat for heroic actions in Vietnam.
Bill Sloat, on his behalf. As the President noted in his opening remarks, "sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. Yet when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor, and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so. Cushing for acts of valor during the Civil War. Pickett at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, The President remarked, "We can't change what happened to too many soldiers like him, who went uncelebrated because our nation judged them by the color of their skin and not the content of their character.
But we can do our best to make it right. He stated, "It takes our nation too long sometimes to say so—because Sergeant Shemin served at a time when the contributions and heroism of Jewish Americans in uniform were too often overlooked. William Shemin saved American lives and he represented our nation with honor. See Table 1 for a list of bills introduced in the current Congress to award the Medal of Honor as of the date of this report. Table 1.
Medal of Honor Bills in the th Congress To provide for the posthumous commission as a captain in the regular Army of Milton Holland, who, while sergeant major of the 5 th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry, was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Civil War.
Gentile for acts of valor during WWII. Smithhisler for acts of valor in November during World War I. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Boston: Boston Publishing Company, DOD, U. Sammons, Jeffrey T. Morrow, Jr. Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, Committee Print No. Munro is the only Coast Guardsman to receive the MoH, see pp. Yockelson, Mitchell. Below are samples of official MoH citations. Entered service at : Boscobel, Wis. Today, there are living recipients of the Medal of Honor. There have been 87 African-American recipients, 41 Hispanic-American recipients, 22 Native American recipients, 22 Asian-American recipients, and one female recipient.
There have been 19 double Medal of Honor recipients. The Medal of Honor is the only U. Among other privileges, Medal of Honor recipients receive invitations to attend presidential inaugurations and accompanying festivities. Ogden, Eloise January 12, Minot Daily News. Archived from the original on January 17, Retrieved February 10, Naval Special Warfare Command October 13, Retrieved 13 May Lange, Katie.
Matthew Williams". Retrieved 30 October Bellavia Sgt. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved January 24, Bennie G. Alabama News Network. Retrieved 17 April Ronald Shurer dies at 41". Retrieved 14 May Rosser Passes Away at 90". Retrieved 26 August This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.
All recipients. Charles H. Hershel W. Duane E. Hiroshi H. Robert E. Ernest E. John Baca. Donald E. Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. Gary B. Patrick Henry Brady. Paul Bucha. John Canley. Bruce P. Sammy L. Drew Dennis Dix. Roger Donlon. Frederick Edgar Ferguson.
Michael John Fitzmaurice. James P. Robert F. Harold A. Charles C. Frank A. Robert R. Jack H. Don J. Thomas G. Allan J. Bob Kerrey. Peter C. Gary L. James E. Allen James Lynch. Walter Joseph Marm, Jr. James C. Robert J. Melvin Morris. When asked why he thinks the two wars have been treated differently for military medals, Bellavia blamed public perception of the wars.
I believe there are a lot of people who wanted to forget Iraq and not think of it again. The year-old veteran, who has written extensively about his time in Iraq, said he hopes Defense Department leaders will continue reviewing cases like his to consider other award upgrades.
Rafael Peralta, who died after falling on a grenade but whose actions have been disputed by physicians and former colleagues; and Sgt. Bradley Kasal, who survived a similar assault in
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