A military aide holds the Medal of Honor during a presentation ceremony in the East Room of the White House on July 18, 2016. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
The language employed by the military in citations for the Medal of Honor is crisp, concise, and largely devoid of emotion. Here, for instance, are some lines from Audie Murphy’s (1925–1971) citation for his engagement with German troops on Jan. 26, 1945, near Holtzwihr, France.
“With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50-caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire.”
Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier in World War II. Public Domain
This account gives us the just-the-facts details of 19-year-old Murphy’s heroic stand, but it leaves out the frigid temperatures and frozen earth of that day, the screams of the wounded and dying, the ear-splitting explosions, and the chaos of that battleground. Murphy, who was the most highly decorated American soldier of World War II, would later describe this single-handed feat and other incidents of combat in his popular autobiography, “To Hell and Back.” Later, he would star as himself in a movie by the same title. It is to these sources we must go to gain even an inkling of his ordeal.
The Stories Behind the Heroes
A book, a movie, a sketch, and postal stamps featuring America’s beloved Sgt. Alvin York on display in Alexandria, Va. AFP/Getty Images
Also missing in these citations are the backstories of these heroic men. Here in its entirety, for example, is the citation describing the actions of Alvin York (1887–1964), America’s highly lauded hero of World War I:
“After his platoon had suffered heavy casualties and three other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading seven men, he charged with great daring a machine-gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In his heroic feat the machine-gun nest was taken, together with four officers and 128 men and several guns.”
Not only does this account barely scratch the surface of York’s battle with the Germans, but an investigation of his life yields an array of fascinating details. Like Murphy, he spent his youth hunting to put meat on his family’s table and so entered the Army as a dead shot.
In 1915, he experienced a religious conversion and gave up his drinking and wild ways. A pacifist by faith when drafted into the Army, he opposed the taking of human life. After the war, rather than cashing in on his fame, York returned to Tennessee and worked at improving his rural community, focusing especially on education. His piety, patriotism, and indifference to riches made him extremely popular with the American public.
The Medal: A Quick Look
Established during the Civil War to recognize Union sailors and soldiers for courage and outstanding service, the Medal of Honor underwent several changes before assuming its present design and standards. The U.S. Department of Defense today offers these broad guidelines for its reward: “It is presented by the President of the United States, in the name of Congress, and is conferred only upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”
Below this highest military decoration are the Distinguished Service Cross for the Army; the Navy Cross for sailors, Marines, and the Coast Guard when in combat; the Air Force Cross; and the Silver Star for all branches. All recognize degrees of heroism and self-sacrifice on the field of battle.
Of the tens of millions of Americans who have served in America’s military, only 3,528 have received the Medal of Honor. Nineteen service members earned the medal twice, bringing to 3,547 the total number of individuals awarded. Of these recipients, 685 died either in action or of wounds and disease following combat.
Making the decision as to whether a medal is deserved is, at times, a judgment call. In the book “D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II,” Stephen Ambrose recounts the incredible story of Sgt. Harrison Summers of the 101st Airborne, which Liberty Phillips cites verbatim in her article “Harrison Summers: ‘Sergeant York of World War II.’” Ordered to take command of 15 men—all of them strangers to him in the chaos of the Normandy landings—and capture a German barracks compound, Summers’s daring over the next few hours resembled a “Rambo” movie rather than real warfare. Only two men obeyed his order to move forward, and with their supporting fire Summers launched a one-man assault on the compound, kicking down doors and killing many Germans with his Tommy gun. The survivors either surrendered to the Americans or fled.
Summers was nominated for a Medal of Honor, but the paperwork was lost, and he received a Distinguished Service Cross. Later, friends and family members made at least two attempts to persuade the government to honor him with the Medal of Honor, but their efforts failed. As Ambrose wrote: “His story has too much John Wayne/Hollywood in it to be believed, except that more than ten men saw and reported his exploits.”
Interesting Facts and a Commonality
The Home of Heroes website offers some valuable information and data on different facets of the medal’s history.
The youngest Medal of Honor recipient was Civil War drummer boy William Johnston, who earned the medal before his 12th birthday and received it at age 13. World War II Marine Jack Lucas, age 17, was awarded the medal posthumously after throwing himself on two grenades to save his comrades and became the youngest recipient of the 20th century. He had lied about his age and enlisted when he was 14.
Willie Johnston, at age 13, the youngest Medal of Honor recipient. The uniform shows him as a member of Company 60, 1st Battalion, Invalid Corps. Public Domain
The oldest recipient was Douglas MacArthur, who was 62 when the Medal of Honor was awarded to him for his actions in the Philippines fighting the Japanese. MacArthur’s father had received the medal in the Civil War, making them the only father-son recipients.
It’s illegal to wear someone else’s Medal of Honor, but not illegal to claim to have won one. The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which would have imposed a one-year prison sentence on anyone making such a claim, was struck down by the Supreme Court as a violation of free speech.
From reading their accounts in books and by the press, most Medal of Honor recipients share a reluctance to talk about combat. In the summer of 1970, just two months after receiving the medal for action in Vietnam, Capt. Paul Bucha was part of the training for third-class cadets at Camp Buckner at West Point, New York. One of the cadets in the company to which I belonged asked him to tell his story about his fighting in Vietnam. “I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Capt. Bucha replied, which was his way of gracefully ending further conversation on that topic.
Where Do We Get Such Men?
In the film adaptation of James Michener’s Korean War novel, “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” an admiral watching the jets of fighter pilots leave the deck of a carrier asks the question: “Where do we get such men?”
All the men who have been honored with the medal likely spark that same question in us. They entered the military as ordinary men—boys, in many cases—who answered when duty called, and then went far beyond what was expected of them. They came from all over America, from the wheatfields of Kansas, the mountains of Colorado, the streets of Chicago, the villages of New England. Often they seemed nothing special, which is why their extraordinary deeds sometimes shocked the friends and comrades who witnessed their feats of bravery.
Many of these same heroes have also paid homage to the courage and sacrifices of their fellow soldiers, aviators, sailors, and Marines. In 1970, Capt. Bucha was undoubtedly speaking for many other recipients when he said, “The medal that I wear, I wear on behalf of others, not myself.”
If philosopher George Santayana’s dismal reflection that “only the dead have seen the end of war” is true, which is likely, then we can only hope that patriots like all our combat veterans, living or dead, will always step up to defend the lives and liberties of their fellow Americans.
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Jeff Minick
Author
Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.
