View source for Medal of Honor

{{Other uses}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox military award
|name=Medal of Honor
|image=[[File:Medalsofhonor2.jpg|300px]]
|caption= Army, Navy, and Air Force versions of the Medal of Honor
|awarded_by= the [[President of the United States]]<br />in the name of the [[United States Congress]]
|status= Currently awarded
|type= U.S. military medal with neck ribbon<br>(Decoration)
|eligibility= Military personnel only
|for= Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty<ref name="regulations">{{cite web|author=Department of the Army|date=July 1, 2002|url=http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/julqtr/32cfr578.4.htm|title=Section 578.4 Medal of Honor|work=[[Code of Federal Regulations]] Title 32, Volume 2|publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office|Government Printing Office]]|accessdate=March 14, 2012|authorlink=United States Department of the Army}}</ref><ref>As amended by Act of July 25, 1963</ref>
|established= Navy - December 21, 1861<br>Army - July 12, 1862<br>Air Force - April 14, 1965
|first_award= March 25, 1863 - [[American Civil War]], Army recipient
|last_award= October 15, 2013 - [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]], Army recipient
|total= 3,468<ref name=AMOHWStat>{{cite web
 |accessdate=September 5, 2013
 |url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/mohstats.html
 |title = Medal of Honor recipients
 |work = Statistics of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who received the Medal of Honor
 |publisher= [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
 |date = August 13, 2013}}</ref>
|posthumous= 621<ref name=AMOHWStat/>
|recipients= 3,449<ref name=AMOHWStat/>
|higher=''None''
|lower= Army - [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] <br /> Navy and Marine Corps - [[Navy Cross]] <br />Air Force - [[Air Force Cross (United States)|Air Force Cross]] <br />Coast Guard - [[Coast Guard Cross]]
|image2=<!--[[File:Medal of Honor ribbon.svg|110px]]  &nbsp;  [[File:Moh rosette.gif|40px]]-->
|caption2= <!--Medal of Honor [[service ribbon]] and [[Rosette (decoration)|lapel button]]-->
}}

The '''Medal of Honor''' is the [[United States|United States of America's]] highest [[Awards and decorations of the United States military|military honor]], awarded for personal acts of [[Courage|valor]] above and beyond the call of duty.  The medal is awarded by the [[President of the United States]] in the name of [[United States Congress|Congress]] to US military personnel only. There are three versions of the medal, one for the [[United States Army|Army]], one for the [[United States Navy|Navy]], and one for the [[United States Air Force|Air Force]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cmohs.org/medal-types.php | title=Congressional Medal of Honor Society | accessdate=8 October 2013}}</ref>  Personnel of the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] and [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] receive the Navy version.

There have been 3,468 Medals of Honor awarded to the nation's soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen since the decoration's creation in 1861.<ref name=AMOHWStat/>  There were no military awards or medals in use at the beginning of the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865).  As the only award available during this conflict, almost half of all Medals of Honor presented to date were awarded for actions in the four years of the Civil War.<ref name=AMOHWStat/>

The Medal of Honor is usually presented by the President at the [[White House]] in a formal ceremony intended to represent the gratitude of the American people, with posthumous presentations made to the primary next of kin.<ref name="posthumousQuantification">{{Cite book|last=Pullen|first=John J.|title=A Shower of Stars: The Medal of Honor and the 27th Maine|publisher=Stackpole Books|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|year=1997|pages=preface p2|url=http://books.google.com/?id=xGtImta-9QEC&dq=Pullen+A+Shower+of+stars&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=falseMany|accessdate=April 15, 2010 |isbn=978-0-8117-0075-7}}</ref><ref>SECNAVINST 1650.1H, P. 2-20, 224. 2., Aug 22, 2006</ref>  In 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as "National Medal of Honor Day".<ref>Public Law 101-564, Nov. 15, 1990</ref>  Due to its prestige and status, the Medal of Honor is afforded special protection under U.S. law against any unauthorized adornment, sale, or manufacture, which includes any associated ribbon or badge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://us-code.vlex.com/vid/sec-military-medals-decorations-19190976 |title=18 USC 704 - Sec. 704. Military medals or decorations |publisher=Us-code.vlex.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref>

==Etymology==
Although the medal is sometimes erroneously referred to as the ''Congressional Medal of Honor'', the original and official name is simply the "Medal of Honor".<ref name="regulations"/><ref>DoD Award Manual, Nov. 23, 2010, 1348. 33, P. 31, 8. c. (1) (a)</ref><ref name="TuckerArnold2011">{{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=Spencer C. |last2=Arnold|first2=James |last3=Wiener|first3=Roberta |title=The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607-1890: A Political, Social, and Military History|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JsM4A0GSO34C&pg=PA879|accessdate=March 14, 2012|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-697-8|page=879}}</ref><ref name=CMOHS_name>The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is so designated because that was the name it was given in an act of Congress that was signed into law by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|US President Dwight D. Eisenhower]] on August 5, 1958 as [[Title 36 of the United States Code|Title 36]], Chapter 33 of the U.S. Code (see {{cite web |url= http://www.cmohs.org/society-history.php|title=The Congressional Medal of Honor Society's History|work=Official Site|publisher= Congressional Medal of Honor Society|accessdate=October 1, 2006}}). The law authorizing the society has since been transferred to Title 36, Chapter 405 of the U.S. Code. [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode36/usc_sup_01_36_06_II_08_B_10_405.html ]</ref>

==History==
[[File:Ortega meda of Honor.jpg|upright|thumb|Medal of Honor (without the suspension ribbon) awarded to [[Seaman]] [[John Ortega]] in 1864 (back view of medal).]]
* 1780:  The [[Fidelity Medallion]] was a small medal worn on a chain around the neck, similar to a [[religious]] medal, that was awarded only to three [[militiamen]] from [[New York state]], for the capture of [[John André]], a [[United Kingdom|British]] officer and spy connected directly to General [[Benedict Arnold]] (American and British general-1780) during the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783). The capture saved [[West Point]] (fort) from the British Army.

* 1782: [[Badge of Military Merit]]: The first formal system for rewarding acts of individual gallantry by American soldiers was established by [[George Washington]] when he issued a field order on August 7, 1782, for a Badge of Military Merit to recognize those members of the [[Continental Army]] who performed "any singular meritorious action". This decoration is America's first combat decoration and was preceded only by the Fidelity Medallion, the Congressional medal for Henry Lee awarded in September 1779 in recognition of his attack on the British at Paulus Hook, the Congressional medal for General Horatio Gates awarded in November 1777 in recognition of his victory over the British at Saratoga, and the Congressional medal for George Washington awarded in March 1776.<ref name="regulations"/><ref name="merit">{{cite web|author=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|url=http://www.history.army.mil/faq/purhrt.htm|title=The Badge Of Military Merit/The Purple Heart|accessdate= July 23, 2006|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060718225026/http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/PurHrt.htm|archivedate=July 18, 2006}}</ref><ref>Dept. of the Army Public Information Division, ''The Medal of Honor of the United States Army '' (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1948), 10-11.</ref> Although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a [[military award]] for individual gallantry by members of the [[U.S. Armed Forces]] had been established.

* 1847:  [[Certificate of Merit]]: After the outbreak of the [[Mexican-American War]] (1846–1848) a [[Certificate of Merit Medal|Certificate of Merit]] was established in 1847 for soldiers who distinguished themselves in action. The certificate was discontinued and reintroduced in 1876. In 1918, the certificate was granted medal status as the [[Certificate of Merit Medal]].<ref name="Zabecki2008">{{cite book|last=Zabecki|first=David T. |title=American Artillery and the Medal of Honor|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gAttr-hmghUC&pg=PA11|accessdate=March 14, 2012|year=2008|publisher=[[Lulu (company)|Lulu.com]]|isbn=978-1-4357-5541-3|page=11}}</ref>

* 1861:  There were no military awards or medals at the beginning of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] (1861–1865) except for the Certificate of Merit which was awarded for the Mexican-American War.  In the fall of 1861, a proposal for a battlefield decoration for [[Courage|valor]] was memorandumed to [[Winfield Scott]], the general-in-chief of the army, by Lt. Colonel [[Edward D. Townsend]], an assistant adjutant at the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] and Scott's chief of staff. Scott however, was strictly against medals being awarded which was the European tradition. After Scott retired in October 1861, the [[Secretary of the Navy]], [[Gideon Welles]], adopted the idea of a decoration to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. On October 9, [[U.S. Senator]] ([[Iowa]]) [[James W. Grimes]], Chairman on the Committee on Naval Affairs, proposed Public Resolution Number 82,<ref>"Above and Beyond", P. 5, 1985, Boston Publishing Company</ref> "to promote the efficiency of the Navy" which included a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor<ref>"Stealing the General", P. 308, by Russell S. Bonds, 2006</ref> which was signed into law (12Stat329) by President [[Abraham Lincoln]] on December 21, 1861, "to be bestowed upon such [[petty officer]]s, [[seamen]], landsmen, and [[marines]] as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamen-like qualities during the present war".<ref>'Stealing the General: Great Locomotive Chase and The First Medal of Honor", P. 308, ISBN 10:I-59416-033-3, 2006, by Russell S. Bonds</ref> Secretary Wells directed the [[Philadelphia Mint]] to design the new military decoration.<ref name="valorhonor">{{cite web|url= http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/Vignettes/Vignette_78.htm|title=Two Chief Engineers Were Medal of Honor Recipients?|work=Did You Know?|publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers|accessdate=July 29, 2006 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060818051221/http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/Vignettes/Vignette_78.htm|archivedate=August 18, 2006|deadurl=yes}}</ref><ref name="MWxviii">{{harvnb|Mikaelian|Wallace|2003|p=xviii}}</ref><ref name="typessecnav">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmohs.org/medal-types.php |title=Types of the Medal of Honor: 1862 To Present| publisher=Congressional Medal of Honor Society|accessdate=March 14, 2012}}</ref>

* 1862: On May 15, the [[United States Navy Department]] ordered 175 medals with the words "Personal Valor" on the back from the [[U.S. Mint]] in [[Philadelphia]].<ref>"Above and Beyond": A History of the Medal of Honor and the Civil War, P. 5, ''These medals were made of copper and coated with bronze'', ISBN 0-939526-19-0, by the editors of Boston Publishing Company in cooperation with the CMOH Society, 1985.</ref> Senator [[Henry Wilson]], the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a resolution on February 15 for an Army Medal of Honor. The resolution was approved by Congress and signed into law on July 12, 1862. This measure provided for awarding a medal of honor "to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection". During the war, Townsend would have some medals delivered to some recipients with a letter requesting acknowledgement of the "Medal of Honor". The letter written and signed by Townsend on behalf of the Secretary of War, stated that the resolution was "to provide for the presentation of medals of honor to the enlisted men of the army and volunteer forces who have distinguished or may distinguish themselves in battle during the present rebellion".<ref>"Above and Beyond", by Boston Publishing Company, 2006</ref><ref>Quote is from what is written on War Dept. return receipt letter dated March 1865 signed by asst. adjutant Edward Townsend that accompanied the Medal of Honor delivered to Private Franklin Johndro for his act on Sept. 30, 1864, capturing 49 armed Confederate soldiers.</ref> By mid-November the War Department contracted with Philadelphia [[silversmith]] William Wilson and Son, who had been responsible for the Navy design, to prepare 2,000 Army medals to be cast at the mint.<ref>"Above and Beyond", by Boston Publishing Company, P. 5, 2nd paragraph, 1985</ref> The Army version had "The Congress to" written on the back of the medal.  Both versions were made of [[copper]] and coated with [[bronze]], which "gave them a reddish tint."<ref>"Stealing the General, The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor, by Russell S. Bonds, 2006, ISBN IO: I-59416-003 - ISBN 13: 978-i-59416-003-2, P. 309: "The medal of honor is bronze, of neat device, and is highly prized by those of whom it has been bestowed," "Townsend wrote in a 1864 report. Its original design, embodied first in the Navy Medal, was an inverted, five-pointed star...."</ref><ref>"Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam", P. 5, ''The medals were made of copper and coated with bronze, which gave them a reddish tint''. ISBN 0-939526-19-0, 1985, by the editors of the Boston Publishing Company in cooperation with the CMOH Society</ref>

*1863: Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration. On March 3, Army officers became eligible for the Medal of Honor.<ref>"Above and Beyond", 1985, p. 5</ref><ref>"An Act Making Appropriations for Sundry Civil Expenses of the Government for the Year Ending June Thirty, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-four, and for the Year Ending the 30[th] of June, 1863, and for Other Purposes," 12 Stat 751, Sec. 6.</ref>  The Secretary of War first presented the Medal of Honor to six Union Army volunteers on March 25, 1863 in his office.<ref>"Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor", 2006, by Russell S. Bonds</ref>

* 1890: On April 23, the Medal of Honor Legion is established in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Edward F. |title=Vietnam Medal of Honor Heroes |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=njMbo3UVkCcC&pg=PT18&lpg=PT18&ots=0Y2deJOBS6&dq=Medal+of+Honor+legion+1890 |accessdate=29 January 2013 |year=2010 |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn=9780307776174 |page=18 }}</ref><ref name="CMOHShistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.cmohs.org/medal-history.php |title=History |author=Doug Sterner |year=2013 |work=cmohs.org |publisher=Congressional Medal of Honor Society |accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legionofvalor.com/history.php |title=Legion of Valor History |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=legionofvalor.com |publisher=Legion of Valor |accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>

*1915: On March 3, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers became eligible for the Medal of Honor.<ref name="CMOHShistory"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/home/repository/moh-faq.pdf |title=Fact Sheet on the Medal of Honor |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=17 January 2012 |publisher=Pritzker Military Library |accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams (U.S. Marine Corps) |first1=Colonel Dion |year=1919 |title=War Decorations |journal=Proceedings |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=1094 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mxNLAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA500&ots=nkobaD6nFi&dq=Navy%20Marine%20Corps%20Coast%20Guard%20officers%20eligible%20Medal%20of%20Honor%201915&pg=PA500#v=onepage&q=Navy%20Marine%20Corps%20Coast%20Guard%20officers%20eligible%20Medal%20of%20Honor%201915&f=false |accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>

* 1963: A separate Coast Guard medal was authorized in 1963, but not yet designed or awarded.<ref name=navyfaq>{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.mil/moh/faq.html |title=Medal of Honor, Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Navy.mil |date= |accessdate=May 12, 2012}}</ref>

* 1965:  A separate design for a version of the medal for the U.S. Air Force was created in 1956, authorized in 1960, and officially adopted on April 14, 1965.  Previously, members of the [[U.S. Army Air Corps]], [[U.S. Army Air Forces]], and the [[U.S. Air Force]] received the Army version of the medal.<ref name="MWxxvi">{{harvnb|Mikaelian|Wallace|2003|p=xxvi}}</ref>

==Appearance==
[[File:Army Medal of Honor.jpg|thumb|right|75px|Army version]]
[[File:NavyMedalofHonor.jpg|thumb|right|75px|Navy version]]
[[File:AirForceMedalofHonor.jpg|thumb|right|75px|Air Force version]]
There are three versions of the Medal of Honor, one for each of the [[Organizational structure of the United States Department of Defense|military departments]] of the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]: Army, Navy, and Air Force.  Members of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard are eligible to receive the Navy version.  Each is constructed differently and the components are made from gilding metals and red [[brass]] alloys with some gold plating, enamel, and bronze pieces.  The United States Congress considered a bill in 2004 which would require the Medal of Honor to be made with 90% gold, the same composition as the lesser-known [[Congressional Gold Medal]], but the measure was dropped.<ref name=ABC-GoldorBrass>{{cite news|last=Martin|first=John|title=Medal of Honor: Gold or Brass?|url=http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130511&page=1#.UFu-W41mTYg|accessdate=21 September 2012|newspaper=ABC News|date=5 February 2004}}</ref>

===Army recipients===
The Army version is described by the [[United States Army Institute of Heraldry|Institute of Heraldry]] as "a gold five pointed star, each point tipped with trefoils, 1 1/2 inches wide, surrounded by a green laurel wreath and suspended from a gold bar inscribed ''VALOR'', surmounted by an eagle. In the center of the star, [[Minerva]]’s head surrounded by the words ''UNITED STATES OF AMERICA''.  On each ray of the star is a green oak leaf.  On the reverse is a bar engraved ''THE CONGRESS TO'' with a space for engraving the name of the recipient."<ref name=TIOH-MOH>{{cite web|title=Medal of Honor|url=http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/medal_of_honor.aspx|work=US Government|publisher=The Institute of Heraldry|accessdate=21 September 2012}}</ref>  The pendant and suspension bar are made of gilding metal, with the eye, jump rings, and suspension ring made of red brass.<ref name="MIL-DTL-3943/1F">{{cite web|author=Defense Standardization Program Office |url=http://www.assistdocs.com/search/document_details.cfm?ident_number=4589&StartRow=7101&PaginatorPageNumber=143&status_all=ON&search_method=BASIC |title=Detail Specification Sheet MIL-DTL-3943/1G, Revision G, dated 29 May 2007 (PDF Document) |publisher=Assistdocs.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref>  The finish on the pendant and suspension bar is hard enameled, gold plated, and rose gold plated, with polished highlights.<ref name="MIL-DTL-3943/1F" />

===Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard recipients===
The Navy version is described as "a five-pointed bronze star, tipped with trefoils containing a crown of laurel and oak. In the center is Minerva, personifying the United States, standing with left hand resting on fasces and right hand holding a shield blazoned with the shield from the coat of arms of the United States. She repulses Discord, represented by snakes. The medal is suspended from the flukes of an anchor."<ref name=TIOH-MOH />  It is made of solid red brass, oxidized and buffed.<ref name="MIL-DTL-3943/2H">{{cite web|author=Defense Standardization Program Office |url=http://www.assistdocs.com/search/document_details.cfm?ident_number=4590&StartRow=7101&PaginatorPageNumber=143&status_all=ON&search_method=BASIC |title=Detail Specification Sheet MIL-DTL-3943/2H, Revision H, dated 29 May 2007 (PDF Document) |publisher=Assistdocs.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref>

===Air Force recipients===
The Air Force version is described as "within a wreath of green laurel, a gold five-pointed star, one point down, tipped with trefoils and each point containing a crown of laurel and oak on a green background. Centered on the star, an annulet of 34 stars is a representation of the head of the [[Libertas|Statue of Liberty]]. The star is suspended from a bar inscribed with the word ''VALOR'' above an adaptation of the thunderbolt from the Air Force Coat of Arms."<ref name=TIOH-MOH />  The pendant is made of gilding metal.<ref name="MIL-DTL-3943/3G">{{cite web|author=Defense Standardization Program Office |url=http://www.assistdocs.com/search/document_details.cfm?ident_number=4591&StartRow=7101&PaginatorPageNumber=143&status_all=ON&search_method=BASIC |title=Detail Specification Sheet MIL-DTL-3943/3G, Revision G, dated 29 May 2007 (PDF Document) |publisher=Assistdocs.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref>  The connecting bar, hinge, and pin are made of bronze.<ref name="MIL-DTL-3943/3G" />  The finish on the pendant and suspension bar is hard enameled, gold plated, and rose gold plated, with buffed relief.<ref name="MIL-DTL-3943/3G" />

===Ribbons, lapel button, and "V" device===
[[File:Medal of Honor ribbon.svg|thumb|right|90px|[[Service ribbon]]]]
[[File:Moh rosette.gif|thumb|right|30px|[[Rosette (decoration)|Lapel button]]]]
[[File:Valor device.jpg|thumb|right|20px|[["V" device]]]]
* [[neck order|Neck ribbon]]: Since 1944, the Medal of Honor has been attached to a light blue<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/medal_of_honor.aspx |title=Institute of Heraldry, Bluebird 67117 |publisher=Tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil |date= |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref> colored [[Moiré pattern|moiré]] silk neck ribbon that is {{convert|1.1875|in|mm|abbr=off}} in width and {{convert|21.75|in|mm|abbr=off}} in length.<ref name="regulations"/><ref name="versions">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmohs.org/medal.htm|title=The Medal|publisher= Congressional Medal of Honor Society|accessdate=July 21, 2006}}</ref>  The center of the ribbon displays [[Thirteen Colonies|thirteen white stars]] in the form of three [[Chevron (insignia)|chevron]]s.  The Medal of Honor is one of only two military [[neck order]] awards and is the only neck order that is awarded to members of the armed forces.  The other, the Commander's Degree of the [[Legion of Merit]], is presented to foreign dignitaries.<ref name="neckorderLOM">{{cite web|url=http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/legion_of_merit.aspx|title= Legion of Merit|work=Awards|publisher=Institute of Heraldry|accessdate=March 14, 2012}}</ref>

* [[Service ribbon]]:  On May 2, 1896, Congress authorized a "ribbon to be worn with the medal and [a] [[rosette (decoration)|rosette]] or [[knot]] to be worn in lieu of the medal".<ref name="typessecnav"/><ref name=TIOH-MOH /><ref>Congressional Medal of Honor site, History of the Medal of Honor, May 2, 1896 ("20 Stat. 473")</ref>  The service ribbon is light blue with five white stars in the form of an "M".<ref name=TIOH-MOH />  It is placed first in the top position in the [[Awards and decorations of the United States military#Order of precedence|order of precedence]] and is worn for situations other than full-dress military uniform.<ref name=TIOH-MOH />

*The Lapel button is a 1/2 inch, six-sided light blue [[bowknot]] rosette with thirteen white stars and may be worn on appropriate civilian clothing on the left lapel.<ref name=TIOH-MOH />

* [["V" Device]]:  As of 2013, "for each succeeding act that would otherwise justify award of the Medal of Honor, the individual receiving the subsequent award is authorized to wear an additional Medal of Honor ribbon and/or a "V" device on the Medal of Honor suspension ribbon."<ref>{{cite web|title=Department of Defense Manual 1348.33, Volume 1|url=http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/134833vol1.pdf|publisher=[http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/ Defense Techinical Information Center]|accessdate=29 June 2013|pages=33–34}}</ref>  The "V" device is a 1/4 inch high bronze miniature letter "V" with serifs.  The Medal of Honor is the only decoration to use the "V" device to designate subsequent awards in such fashion.  Nineteen individuals, now deceased, were double Medal of Honor recipients.<ref name="double">{{cite web|url = http://www.cmohs.org/double-recipients.php |title = Double Recipients |publisher = Congressional Medal of Honor Society |accessdate = March 14, 2012}}</ref>

===Historical versions===
The Medal of Honor has evolved in appearance over time.  The upside-down star design of the Navy version's pendant adopted in early 1862 has not changed since its inception.  The Army 1862 version followed and was identical to the Navy version except an eagle perched atop cannons was used instead of an anchor to connect the pendant to the suspension ribbon.  In 1896, the Army version changed the ribbon's design and colors due to misuse and imitation by nonmilitary organizations.<ref name=TIOH-MOH />  In 1904, the Army "[[George Lewis Gillespie, Jr.|Gillespie]]" version introduced a smaller redesigned star and the ribbon was changed to the light blue pattern with white stars seen today.<ref name=TIOH-MOH /> In 1913, the Navy version adopted the same ribbon pattern.

{{main|Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor}}
After World War I, the Navy decided to separate the Medal of Honor into two versions, one for combat and one for non-combat.  The original upside-down star was designated as the non-combat version and a new pattern of the medal pendant, in cross form, was designed by the [[Tiffany & Co.|Tiffany Company]] in 1919.  It was to be presented to a sailor or Marine who "in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, distinguish[es] himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty"<ref>{{cite web |title=The Medal of Honor -- Navy Medals of Honor, 1861-1941 -- The "Tiffany Cross" pattern|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/awd/us-indiv/moh-3t.htm|publisher=Department of the Navy|accessdate=30 November 2012|date=23 January 2008|author=Naval History & Heritage Command}}</ref>  Despite the "actual conflict" guidelines—the ''Tiffany Cross'' was awarded to Navy CDR (later RADM) [[Richard E. Byrd]] and [[Floyd Bennett]] for arctic exploration. The ''Tiffany Cross'' itself was not popular.  In 1942, the Navy returned to using only the original 1862 inverted 5-point star design, and ceased issuing the award for non-combat action.<ref>{{cite web|last=Birnie|first=Michael|title="Tiffany" Medal of Honor Comes to Navy Museum|url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=7048|publisher=The Navy Museum Public Affairs|accessdate=30 November 2012|date=27 April 2003}}</ref>

In 1944, the suspension ribbons for both the Army and Navy version were replaced with the now familiar neck ribbon.<ref name=TIOH-MOH />  When the Air Force version was designed in 1956, it incorporated similar elements and design from the Army version. It used a larger star with the Statue of Liberty image in place of Minerva on the medal and changed the connecting device from an eagle to an heraldic thunderbolt flanked with wings as found on the service seal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iowahistory.org/museum/exhibits/medal-of-honor/medal-of-honor-history/war.htm |title=Medal of Honor History |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Exhibits |publisher=State Historical Society of Iowa |accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=History in Blue |author=Robert F. Dorr |author2=Fred L. Borch |url=http://www.airforcetimes.com/legacy/rar/1-292308-1213778.php |newspaper=Air Force Times |date=4 November 2005 |accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref>
<gallery perrow="9">
File:US-MOH-1862.png|1862–1895 Army version
File:US-MOH-1896.png|1896–1903 Army version
File:US-MOH-1904.png|1904–1944 Army version
</gallery>
<gallery perrow="9">
File:US Navy Medal of Honor (1862 original).png|1862–1912 Navy version
File:US Navy Medal of Honor (1913 to 1942).png|1913–1942 Navy version
File:Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor.jpg|1919–1942 Navy "Tiffany Cross" version
</gallery>

===Flag===
[[File:Medal of Honor Flag with Gold Fringe.svg|thumb|Medal of Honor Flag]]
On October 23, 2002, {{USPL|107|248}} was enacted, modifying {{UnitedStatesCode|36|903}}, authorizing a Medal of Honor flag to be presented to recipients of the decoration.<ref name="flaglaw">{{cite web|date = 23 October 2002 |url = http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/36C9.txt |title = Designation of the Medal of Honor Flag |publisher = US Code.gov |accessdate = July 23, 2006}}</ref>

The flag was based on a concept by retired [[U.S. Army Special Forces|Army Special Forces]] First Sergeant Bill Kendall of [[Jefferson, Iowa]],<ref name="Kendall">{{cite web|url = http://www4.army.mil/news/article.php?story=7244|title = Special Forces veteran's idea leads to new Medal of Honor flag |publisher = Army News Service|accessdate = July 24, 2006|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060111151709/http://www4.army.mil/news/article.php?story=7244 |archivedate = January 11, 2006|deadurl=yes}}</ref> who designed a flag to honor Medal of Honor recipient Captain [[Darrell Lindsey]], a [[B-26 Marauder|B-26]] pilot from Jefferson who was killed in World War II. Kendall's design of a light blue field emblazoned with 13 white five-pointed stars was nearly identical to that of Sarah LeClerc's of the [[U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry|Institute of Heraldry]]. LeClerc's design, ultimately accepted as the official flag, does not include the words "Medal of Honor" and is fringed in gold. The color of the field and the 13 white stars, arranged in the form of a three bar [[Chevron (insignia)|chevron]], consisting of two chevrons of five stars and one chevron of three stars,<ref name="regulations"/> replicate the suspension ribbon of the Medal of Honor. The flag has no set proportions.<ref name="flag">{{cite web|url = http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Flags_Guidons/MedalOfHonorFlag.htm |title = Medal of Honor Flag |work = The Institute of Heraldry |publisher = US Army |accessdate = July 21, 2006| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060911012812/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Flags_Guidons/MedalOfHonorFlag.htm| archivedate = September 11, 2006}}</ref>

* The first Medal of Honor recipient to receive the official Medal of Honor flag was [[Sergeant First Class]] [[Paul R. Smith]]. The Medal of Honor with the flag was presented by President [[George W. Bush]] to his family during a ceremony at the [[White House]] on April 4, 2005.<ref name="smithflag">{{cite web|last = Cramer |first = Eric W. |date = March 29, 2005 |url = http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=7085 |title = First Medal of Honor flag to be presented |work = Army News Service |publisher = US Army|accessdate = July 21, 2006|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060721040551/http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=7085 |archivedate = July 21, 2006|deadurl=yes}}</ref>

A special Medal of Honor Flag presentation ceremony was held for over 60 living Medal of Honor recipients on board the {{USS|Constitution}} on September 30, 2006.<ref name="flagpresent">{{cite web|year = 2006 |url = http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=25834 |title = "Old Ironsides" Hosts Medal of Honor Recipients |work = Navy Newsstand |publisher = US Navy |accessdate = October 1, 2006}}</ref>

==Presenting==
[[File:Henry Breault2.jpg|right|thumb|President [[Calvin Coolidge]] bestowing the Medal of Honor upon [[Henry Breault]], March 8, 1924]]
There are two distinct protocols for awarding the Medal of Honor. The first and most common is nomination and approval through the [[chain of command]] of the service member. The second method is nomination by a member of the U.S. Congress, generally at the request of a constituent, and the subsequent approval via a special [[Act of Congress]]. In both cases, the Medal of Honor is presented by the President on behalf of, and in the name of, the Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/moh.html |title=Medal of Honor Citations |publisher=History.army.mil |date=June 4, 2008 |accessdate=January 3, 2012}}</ref> Since 1941, more than half of the Medals of Honor have been awarded posthumously.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marine posthumously awarded Medal of Honor |author=Jeff Schogol |author2=Leoo Shane III |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/marine-posthumously-awarded-medal-of-honor-1.59068 |newspaper=Stars and Stripes |date=12 January 2007 |accessdate=28 January 2013 |quote=At the ceremony, Bush noted that more than half of the Medal of Honor recipients since World War II have died earning it. }}</ref> Medal of Honor recipients are usually personally decorated by the President.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.c-span.org/Events/Medal-of-Honor-Recipients-Tell-Their-Stories/10737435807/ |title=Medal of Honor Recipients Tell Their Stories |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=21 November 2012 |work=C-SPAN |publisher=National Cable Satellite Corporation |accessdate=28 January 2013 |quote=The Medal of Honor is the highest U.S. military honor and is usually presented by the President of the United States. }}</ref> If the Medal of Honor is awarded posthumously it is presented to the recipient's family.<ref>{{usc|10|3752}}</ref>

===Evolution of criteria===
* 1800s: Several months after President Abraham Lincoln signed Public Resolution 82 into law on December 21, 1861 for a Navy medal of honor, a similar resolution was passed in July 1862 for an Army version of the medal. Six [[Union Army]] soldiers who [[Great Locomotive Chase|hijacked]] a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[locomotive]] named the ''[[General (train)|General]]'' in 1862, were the first [[Medal of Honor recipients]];<ref name="MWxvii">{{harvnb|Mikaelian|Wallace|2003|p=xvii}}</ref> [[James J. Andrews]], a civilian, led the raid. He was caught and hanged as a Union spy, but was not awarded the medal. Many Medals of Honor awarded in the 19th century were associated with, "saving the flag" (and country), not just for patriotic reasons, but because the [[U.S. flag]] was a primary means of battlefield communication at the time. Because no other military decoration was authorized during the Civil War, some seemingly less exceptional and notable actions were recognized by a Medal of Honor during that conflict.

* 1900s: Early in the twentieth century, the Navy awarded many Medals of Honor for peacetime bravery. For instance, in 1901, [[John Henry Helms]] aboard the {{USS|Chicago|CA-14}} was awarded the medal for saving the ship's cook from drowning. Seven sailors aboard the {{USS|Iowa|BB-4}} were awarded the medal after the ship's boiler exploded on January 25, 1904. Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett were awarded the medal—combat ("Tiffany") version despite the existence then of a non-combat form of the Navy medal—for the 1926 flight they claim reached the [[North Pole]].<ref name="HargisSinton2003">{{cite book|last1=argis|first1=Robert H|last2=Sinton|first2=Starr |title=World War II Medal of Honor recipients (1): Navy & USMC|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JdGr1QFy9HwC&pg=PA6|accessdate=March 14, 2012|year=2003|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84176-613-3|page=6}}</ref> And [[Thomas J. Ryan (admiral)|Admiral Thomas J. Ryan]] was awarded the medal for saving a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in [[Yokohama]], Japan, following the 1923 [[Great Kantō earthquake]].<ref name="ryan">{{cite web|url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/interim1920-40.html |title = Medal of Honor Recipients, Interim Awards 1920–1940 |publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] |accessdate = July 23, 2006}}</ref> Between 1919 and 1942, the Navy issued two separate versions of the Medal of Honor, one for acts related to combat and one for non-combat bravery. The criteria for the award tightened during World War I for the Army version of the Medal of Honor, while the Navy version retained a non-combat provision until 1963.  In an Act of Congress of July 9, 1918, the War Department version of the medal required that the recipient "distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," and also required that the act of valor be performed "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy."<ref name="Act of July 9, 1918, 40 Stat. 870">Act of July 9, 1918, 40 Stat. 870.</ref>  This was in reaction to the results of the Army Medal of Honor Review Board, which struck 911 medals from the Medal of Honor Roll in February 1917 for lack of basic prerequisites.  These included the members of the 27th Maine erroneously awarded the medal for reenlisting to guard the capital during the Civil War, 29 members of Abraham Lincoln's funeral detail, and six civilians including [[Buffalo Bill Cody]] and [[Mary Edwards Walker]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmohs.org/medal-history.php |title=History of the Medal of Honor |publisher=CMOHS.org |date= |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref>

* World War II: Starting in 1942, the Medal would only be awarded for action in combat, although the Navy version of the Medal of Honor technically allowed non-combat awards until 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq38-1.htm|title=The Navy's Medal of Honor|accessdate=January 26, 2012|publisher=US Navy}}</ref> Official accounts vary, but generally, the Medal of Honor for combat was known as the "Tiffany Cross", after [[Tiffany & Co.|the company that designed the medal]]. The Tiffany Cross was first awarded in 1919, but was unpopular partly because of its design.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=7048|title="Tiffany" Medal of Honor Comes to Navy Museum|date=2003-04-27|last=Birnie|first=Michael|publisher=United States Navy|work=[[U.S. Navy Museum]]|accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref> The [[Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor]] was awarded at least three times for non-combat. By a special authorized [[Act of Congress]], the medal was presented to Byrd and Bennett (see above).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Above and Beyond: The Aviation Medals of Honor |first=Barrett |last=Tillman |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |year=2003 |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopediavirginia.org/media_player?mets_filename=evm00000779mets.xml |title=Encyclopedia Virginia |publisher=Encyclopedia Virginia |date=February 19, 1927 |accessdate=May 26, 2012}}</ref> In 1942, the United States Navy reverted to a single Medal of Honor, although the statute still contained a loophole allowing the award for both "action involving actual conflict with the enemy" or "in the line of his profession."<ref>"An Act to Amend the Act Approved February 4, 1919 (40 Stat. 1056)," August 7, 1942, Public Law 702, 56 Stat. 743-45."</ref> Arising from these criteria, approximately 60 percent of the medals earned during and after World War II have been awarded posthumously.<ref name="mohstats">{{cite web|month = May | year = 2003 |url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/mohstats.html |title = Medal of Honor Statistics |publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] |accessdate = July 23, 2006}}</ref>

* Public Law 88-77, July 25, 1963: The requirements for the Medal of Honor were standardized among all the services, requiring that a recipient had "distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."<ref>"An Act to Amend Titles 10, 14, and 38, United States Code, with Respect to the Award of Certain Medals and the Medal of Honor Roll," July 25, 1956, HR 2998, Public Law 88-77, 77 Stat. 93.</ref>  Thus, the act removed the loophole allowing non-combat awards to Navy personnel. The act also clarified that the act of valor must occur during one of three circumstances:<ref>DoD Awards Manual 1348.33, V1, Oct. 12, 2011 (Nov. 23, 2010). p. 31--32, 8. Medal of Honor (1) (a) 1., 2., 3. (k),  ''p. 10, Title 10 US Code'' sections 3741, 6241, and 8741 (''Titles 14 & 38 not referenced by DoD'')</ref>
# While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States
# While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force.
# While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.<ref name="United States Code 1963">"An Act to Amend Titles 10, 14, and 38, United States Code, with Respect to the Award of Certain Medals and the Medal of Honor Roll," July 25, 1963, HR 2998, Public Law 88-77, 77 Stat. 93.</ref><ref>DoD Manual 1348.33, V1, Oct. 12. 2011 (Nov. 23, 2010), p. 31 & 32, 8. Medal of Honor (1) (a) 3. (k), ''p.10, Title 10 US Code'' sections 3741, 6241, and 8741 (''Title 14 & 38 not referenced By DoD'').</ref>

Congress drew the three permutations of combat from President Kennedy's executive order of April 25, 1962, which previously added the same criteria to the Purple Heart. On August 24, Kennedy added similar criteria for the Bronze Star Medal.<ref name="HR2998 1963">"Subcommittee No.2 Consideration of HR2998, A Bill to Amend Titles 10, 14, and 38, United States Code, with Respect to the Award of Certain Medals and the Medal of Honor Roll," House of Representatives, Committee of Armed Services, June 6, 1963.</ref><ref>Executive order 11046 - DoD Awards Manual 1348.33, V3, Oct. 12, 2011 (Nov. 23, 2010), p. 19--21, 4. Bronze Star Medal (Title 10 & 37 is referenced by DoD, Titles 14 & 38 is not referenced by DoD)</ref>  The amendment was necessary because Cold War armed conflicts did not qualify for consideration under previous statutes such as the 1918 Army Medal of Honor Statute that required valor "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy," since the United States has not formally declared war since World War II as a result of the provisions of the United Nations Charter.<ref>"An Act Making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Fiscal Year Ending June Thirtieth, Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen," July 9, 1918, HR12281, Public Law 193, 40 Stat. 870.</ref>  According to congressional testimony by the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, the services were seeking authority to award the Medal of Honor and other valor awards retroactive to July 1, 1958, in areas such as Berlin, Lebanon, Quemoy and Matsu Islands, Taiwan Straits, Congo, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba.<ref name="HR2998 1963"/>

Note: In 1968, Navy Captain [[William McGonagle]] (1925–1999) was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the [[USS Liberty incident|USS ''Liberty'' incident]] on June 8--9, 1967. This ''friendly fire'' incident occurred during the Arab-Israeli [[Six Day War]] (June 5--10, 1967).<ref name="Liberty1">{{cite web|month = July | year = 2003 |url = http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/ |title = USS Liberty |publisher = National Security Agency, Central Security Service |accessdate = July 23, 2006|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060721005215/http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/ |archivedate = July 21, 2006|deadurl=yes}} audio and transcripts</ref><ref name="Liberty2">{{cite web|url = http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-l/agtr5.htm |title = USS Liberty |publisher = Naval Historical Center |accessdate = July 23, 2006}} audio and transcripts</ref>

==Authority and privileges==
[[File:C-Chatanooga Cemetery2.jpg|220px|thumb|Medal of Honor monument and Medal of Honor headstones of the Civil War recipients of "Andrews Raid" at the [[Chattanooga National Cemetery]] in Chattanooga, Tennessee.]][[File:Jimmie W. Monteith Jr. Gravemarker 03.jpg|thumb|right|Medal of Honor gravemarker of a recipient at the [[Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial]]]]
[[File:James H Robinson grave.jpg|thumb|Medal of Honor headstone of a recipient at the [[Memphis National Cemetery]]]]

The four specific authorizing statutes amended July 25, 1963:<ref name="United States Code 1963"/>
* Army - {{UnitedStatesCode|10|3741}}
* Navy and Marine Corps - {{UnitedStatesCode|10|6241}}
* Air Force - {{UnitedStatesCode|10|8741}}
* Coast Guard - {{UnitedStatesCode|14|491}} A version is authorized but it has never been awarded.{{#tag:ref|U.S. Coast Guard Signalman First Class [[Douglas Albert Munro]] was posthumously awarded the Navy version of the Medal of Honor for bravery at [[Guadalcanal]] on September 27, 1942. |group=Note}}<ref name=navyfaq>{{cite
web|url=http://www.navy.mil/moh/faq.html |title=Medal of Honor, Frequently Asked Questions |publishers=Navy.mil |date= |accessdate=May 12,
2012}}</ref>

''The President may award, and present in the name of Congress, a medal of honor of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to a person who while a member of the Army'' (naval service; Navy and Marine Corps) (Air Force) (Coast Guard), ''distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.''<ref name="1998code">{{cite web|date = January 26, 1998 |url = http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00003741----000-.html |title = Sec. 3741. Medal of honor: award |publisher =Cornell University |accessdate = January 26, 2012}}</ref>

===Privileges and courtesies===
The Medal of Honor confers special privileges on its recipients. By law, recipients have several benefits:<ref name="benefits">{{cite web|url = http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/home/overview/Eligibility/WhoIsEligible?kw=Medal+of+Honor+Recipients+and+Their+Families |title = Medal of Honor Recipients |publisher = Tricare |accessdate = May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref name="benefits3">{{cite web|url = http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Rates/special1.htm |title = Special Benefits and Allowances Table |publisher = Dept. of Veterans Affairs |accessdate = July 24, 2006}}</ref>

* Each Medal of Honor recipient may have his or her name entered on the Medal of Honor Roll ({{UnitedStatesCode|38|1560}}). Each person whose name is placed on the Medal of Honor Roll is certified to the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]] as being entitled to receive a monthly pension above and beyond any military pensions or other benefits for which they may be eligible. The pension is subject to [[Cost of living#Other uses of the term "cost-of-living allowance"|cost-of-living increases]]; as of December 1, 2012, it is $1,259 a month.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/special_Benefit_Allowances_2012.asp|title = Department of Veterans Affairs Special Benefit Allowances Rates: 2012}}</ref>

* Enlisted recipients of the Medal of Honor are entitled to a supplemental uniform allowance.<ref name="32USC578.9">{{usc|32|578.9}}</ref>

* Recipients receive special entitlements to air transportation under the provisions of DOD Regulation 4515.13-R. This benefit allows the recipient to travel as he or she deems fit across geographical locations, and allows the recipient's dependents to travel either Overseas-Overseas, Overseas-Continental US, or Continental US-Overseas when accompanied by the recipient.<ref>http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/451513r.pdf - Page 85</ref>

* Special identification cards and commissary and exchange privileges are provided for Medal of Honor recipients and their eligible dependents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/process.html |title=Process |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=21 December 2012 |work=Medal of Honor |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=28 January 2013 }}</ref>

* Recipients are granted eligibility for interment at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], if not otherwise eligible.<ref>32 CFR 553.15(d)(1)</ref>

* Fully qualified children of recipients are eligible for admission to the [[List of United States military schools and academies|United States military academies]] without regard to the nomination and quota requirements.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://webster-new.dmz.usna.edu/Admissions/stnommed.htm|title = USNA. Admissions}}</ref>

* Recipients receive a 10 percent increase in retired pay.<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|10|3991}}</ref>

* Those awarded the medal after October 23, 2002, receive a Medal of Honor Flag. The law specified that all 103 living prior recipients as of that date would receive a flag.<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|14|505}}</ref>

* Recipients receive an invitation to all future [[United States presidential inauguration|presidential inaugurations]] and [[United States presidential inaugural balls|inaugural balls]].<ref name="cnnGiunta">{{cite news| url= http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/08/army.medal/ | title= America's newest Medal of Honor recipient is leaving the Army | date= February 8, 2011 | publisher=CNN | accessdate= February 9, 2011| first=Larry| last= Shaughnessy| quote= Even though he's leaving the Army, Giunta is entitled to a number of special benefits reserved for Medal of Honor recipients, including a monthly Veterans Affairs pension of more than $1,237 a month for life as well as an invitation to every presidential inauguration and inauguration party.}}</ref>

* As with all medals, retired personnel may wear the Medal of Honor on "appropriate" civilian clothing. Regulations specify that recipients of the Medal of Honor are allowed to wear the uniform "at their pleasure" with standard restrictions on political, commercial, or extremist purposes (other former members of the armed forces may do so only at certain ceremonial occasions).<ref name="AR670">{{cite web|url = http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r670_1.pdf|format=PDF|title = Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia |page= 316 |publisher = Department of the Army |accessdate = September 21, 2011}}</ref>

* Most states (40) offer a special license plate for certain types of vehicles to recipients at little or no cost to the recipient.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmv.de.gov/forms/veh_serv_forms/pdfs/ve_frm_valor.pdf |title=Application for Valor Specific License Plate |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=March 2001 |work=Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of Delaware |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/militarycenter/licenseplates.shtml |title=Military License Plate |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->  |work=Pennsylvania Department of Transportation |publisher=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |accessdate=28 January 2013}}  <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.gov/mvc/Vehicle/MilitaryPersonnel.htm |title=Military personnel |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=31 January 2011 |work=Motor Vehicle Commission |publisher=State of New Jersey |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://statutes.laws.com/georgia/title-40/chapter-2/article-3/40-2-68 |title=§ 40-2-68 - Special license plates for Medal of Honor winners |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2010|work=Georgia Statutes |publisher=Laws.com |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Connecticut.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Connecticut |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=13 February 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.mass.gov/rmv/veteran/honor.htm |title=Congressional Medal of Honor Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2012 |work=Massachusetts Department of Transportation |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.mva.maryland.gov/Vehicle-Services/SpecialtyPlates/MilitPlates_Entry.asp |title=Military Related Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Department of Transportation |publisher=State of Maryland |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.scdmvonline.com/dmvnew/plategallery.aspx |title=Plate Galleries |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2007 |work=South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles  |publisher=State of South Carolina |accessdate=28 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/exec/vehicle/splates/info.asp?idnm=LVU |title=Special Plates: Plate Information |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2012 |work=Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles |publisher=Commonwealth of Virginia |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmv.ny.gov/military.htm |title=Custom Plate Gallery - Military and Veterans |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=New York State Department of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of New York |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncdot.gov/download/dmv/Plates_MVR33A.pdf |title=Military/Veteran’s Registration Plate Application |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=January 2012 |work=North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of North Carolina |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Kentucky.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Kentucky |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=9 January 2013 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.tn.gov/revenue/vehicle/licenseplates/militarymemorial/military.shtml |title=Specialty License Plates - Military/Memorial |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Department of Revenue |publisher=State of Tennessee |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://bmv.ohio.gov/g_cmoh.stm |title=Congressional Medal of Honor |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of Ohio |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://web01.dps.louisiana.gov/omv1.nsf/58c968bd569b099986256cdc000806eb/38d533205d0135dc862564af00649d33?OpenDocument |title=Congressional Medal of Honor License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1 December 2012 |work=Office of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of Louisiana |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.in.gov/bmv/files/IGWT_Medal_of_Honor_and_Customer_Choices.pdf |title=BMV news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=20 December 2011 |work=Bureau of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of Indiana |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2009/Title32/Chapter6/32-6-231_1.html |title=Section 32-6-231.1 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2009 |work=2009 Alabama Code |publisher=Justia.com |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.maine.gov/sos/kids/maine-government/licenseplates.htm |title=Maine License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2007 |work=Secretary of State |publisher=State of Maine |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://dor.mo.gov/forms/4601.pdf |title=Application for Missouri Military Personalized License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=20 August 2012 |work=Missouri Department of Revenue |publisher=State of Missouri |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/offices/motorVehicle/Pages/specialityPlatesCategory.aspx?category=Military |title=Military Speciality Plates and Placards  |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2011 |work=Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration |publisher=State of Arkansas |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-1585_1595_1598-158232--,00.html |title=Medal of Honor |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=Department of State |publisher=State of Michigan |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.flhsmv.gov/specialtytags/miltags.html |title=Military License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2011 |work=Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of Florida |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TN/htm/TN.504.htm |title=Sec. 504.001. |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Transportation Code |publisher=State of Texas |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/ovs/plates/plates.htm |title=Personalized and specialty plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2012 |work=Iowa Department of Transportation |publisher=State of Iowa |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/vehicles/personal/special/moh.htm |title=Medal of Honor license plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=20 March 2009 |work=Wisconsin Department of Transportation |publisher=State of Wisconsin |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/plates/specialrecogplates.htm |title=Special Recognition License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2011 |work=California Department of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of California |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.mdva.state.mn.us/extras/VeteranMilitaryPlates.htm |title=Minnesota Veteran, Military and related license plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2010 |work=Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs |publisher=State of Minnesota |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/odot/dmv/pages/vehicle/platevet.aspx |title=Veteran & Military Service-related License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->  |work=Oregon DMV |publisher=State of Oregon |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.ksrevenue.org/dmv-medalofhonor.html |title=Kansas Medal of Honor Plate |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2012 |work=Kansas Department of Revenue |publisher=State of Kansas |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.transportation.wv.gov/dmv/vehicles/pages/personalizedplates.aspx |title=Special License Plates  |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=West Virginia Department of Transportation |publisher=State of West Virginia |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmvnv.com/platesveterans.htm |title=Veterans License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles |publisher=State of Nevada |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Revenue-MV/RMV/1201542141638 |title=Military Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=Department of Revenue |publisher=State of California |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.sd.us/drr2/motorvehicle/licenseplates/medal_of_honor.htm |title=Congressional Medal of Honor License Plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=South Dakota Department of Revenue |publisher=State of South Dakota |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/spmoh.html |title=Medal of Honor plates |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=Washington State Department of Licensing |publisher=State of Washington |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/idaho/id-code/idaho_code_49-415a |title=Idaho Code 49-415A - Congressional Medal Of Honor License Plates =2013|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |work=Vehicle Registration |publisher=LawServer Online, Inc. |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.ok.gov/odva/Oklahoma_Veterans_Benefits/License_Plates/index.html |title=State Benefits |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=7 November 2012 |work=Oklahoma Department of Veterans |publisher=State of Oklahoma |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.mvd.newmexico.gov/Vehicles/Pages/License-Plates-Details.aspx |title=License Plates Details |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2011 |work=New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department |publisher=State of New Mexico |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.azdot.gov/mvd/vehicle/mvdplate.asp#MedalofHonor |title=Plates and Placards |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Arizona Department of Transportation |publisher=State of Arizona |accessdate=30 January 2013}}</ref> The states that do not offer Medal of Honor specific license plate offer special license plates for veterans for which recipients may be eligible.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/_New_Hampshire.html |title=State / Territory Benefits -  New Hampshire |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=25 July 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Rhode_Island.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Rhode Island |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=7 March 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Vermont.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Vermont |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=21 July 2011 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Nebraska.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Nebraska |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=11 November 2010 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/North_Dakota.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - North Dakota |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=23 September 2010 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Montana.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Montana |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=5 October 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Wyoming.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Wyoming |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=30 December 2011 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=28 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Utah.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Utah |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=28 June 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Alaska_.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Alaska  |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=29 October 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}} <br/>{{cite web |url=http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/State__Territory_Benefits/Hawaii.html |title=State / Territory Benefits - Hawaii |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=6 December 2012 |work=My Army Benefits |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=30 January 2013}}</ref>

===Saluting===
[[File:Defense.gov photo essay 110713-F-RG147-129.jpg|thumb|[[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Eric T. Olson]] salutes [[Sergeant First Class#United States Army|Sergeant First Class]] [[Leroy Petry]] at a ceremony at [[The Pentagon]].]]
* Although not required by law or military regulation,<ref>United States Army. ''[http://www.smdc.army.mil/2008/CSM/docs/FM7_21_13.pdf The Soldier's Guide'']. 2003. Chapter 4.</ref> members of the [[Uniformed services of the United States|uniformed services]] are encouraged to render salutes to recipients of the Medal of Honor as a matter of respect and courtesy regardless of rank or status and, if the recipients are wearing the medal, whether or not they are in uniform.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/cginfo/uniforms/custom.asp |title=USCG CG-5421 Web Site - Customs & Courtesy |publisher=Uscg.mil |date=February 18, 2011 |accessdate=January 3, 2012}}</ref> This is one of the few instances where a living member of the military will receive salutes from members of a higher rank.

==Legal protection==
* 1904: The Army redesigned its Medal of Honor.<ref name="CMOHS">[http://www.cmohs.org/medal-types.php Types of Medals of Honor] From the website of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved on July 1, 2012.</ref>  To prevent the making of copies of the medal, Brigadier General [[George Lewis Gillespie, Jr.|George Gillespie, Jr.]], a Medal of Honor recipient from the Civil War, applied for and obtained a [[patent]] for the new design.<ref name="CMOHS"/><ref name="Design">{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=LP5oAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=D37236&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Patent number: D37236 |publisher=Google.com |date=1904-11-22 |accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref>  General Gillespie received the patent on November 22, 1904,<ref name="Design"/> and he transferred it the following month to the Secretary of War at the time, [[William Howard Taft]].<ref name="CMOHS"/>

* 1923: Congress enacted a statute (the year before the 20-year term of the patent would expire) — which would later be codified at 18 U.S.C. § 704 — prohibiting the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of military medals or decorations.<ref>See [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/704 Notes to 18 U.S.C. § 704], citing 42 Stat. 1286.  Retrieved on June 30, 2012.</ref>  In 1994, Congress amended the statute to permit an enhanced penalty if the offense involved the Medal of Honor.<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103hr3355enr/pdf/BILLS-103hr3355enr.pdf Pub.L. 103-322, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, § 320109] (page 318 of the PDF version).  Retrieved on June 30, 2012.</ref>

* 2005: Congress enacted the [[Stolen Valor Act of 2005]].<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-109publ437/pdf/PLAW-109publ437.pdf Pub.L. 109-437, The Stolen Valor Act of 2005].  Retrieved on June 30, 2012.</ref>  (Section 1 of the Act provided that the law could be cited as the "Stolen Valor Act of 2005," but the bill received final passage and was signed into law in 2006.<ref>''Id.'' at 1.</ref>)  The law amended 18 U.S.C. § 704 to make it a federal criminal offense for a person to deliberately state falsely that he or she had been awarded a military decoration, service medal, or badge.<ref>''Id..''</ref><ref name="s1998track">{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-1998 |title=S. 1998: Stolen Valor Act of 2005 |work=109th U.S. Congress (2005–2006) |publisher=GovTrak.us |accessdate=March 8, 2007}}</ref><ref name="usc18-704">{{usc|18|704}}</ref>  The law also permitted an enhanced penalty for someone who falsely claimed to have been awarded the Medal of Honor.<ref name="usc18-704"/>

* June 28, 2012: In the case of [[United States v. Alvarez]], the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] held that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005's criminalization of the making of false claims of having been awarded a military medal, decoration, or badge was an unconstitutional violation of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]]'s guarantee of [[free speech]].<ref>[http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-210d4e9.pdf United States v. Alvarez (slip opinion)], 567 U.S. ___ (2012).  Retrieved on June 30, 2012.</ref>  The case involved an elected official in [[California]], Xavier Alvarez, who had falsely stated at a public meeting that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor, even though he had never served in any branch of the armed forces.<ref>''See id.''</ref>

The Supreme Court's decision did not specifically address the constitutionality of the older portion of the statute which prohibits the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of military medals or decorations.  Under the law, the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of the Medal of Honor is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/704 18 U.S.C. § 704].  ''See also'' [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3571 18 U.S.C. § 3571(b)(5)] (specifying the permissible fine for a federal Class A misdemeanor not resulting in death), and [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3559 18 U.S.C. § 3559(a)(6)] (defining a federal Class A misdemeanor).  Retrieved on June 30, 2012.</ref>

* June 3, 2013: President [[Barack Obama]] signs into law a revised version of the Stolen Valor Act, making it a federal offense for someone to pass themselves off as winners of medals for valor in order to receive benefits or other privelages (such as grants, educational benefits, housing, etc) that are set aside for veterans & other service members.<ref>http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/06/03/obama-signs-new-stolen-valor-act.html?ESRC=army.nl Obama Signs New Stolen Valor Act</ref>
[[File:Moh2.jpg|right|thumb|U.S. Army Medal of Honor on display]]

A number of veteran support organizations and private companies devote themselves to exposing those who falsely claim to have received the Medal of Honor.<ref name="phony">{{Cite news|last = Chozick |first = Amy |url = http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB111533986173926430-K_XMqM2Fe4Gn2S_wmni1njavo2k_20060505.html?mod=blogs |title = Veterans' Web Sites Expose Pseudo Heroes, Phony Honors |publisher = Wall Street Journal |accessdate = July 20, 2006 | date=May 6, 2005}}</ref>

===Enforcement===
* 1996: HLI Lordship Industries Inc., a former Medal of Honor contractor, was fined for selling 300 medals for US $75 each.<ref name="hli2">{{Cite news|date = December 4, 1996 |url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9612/04/briefs/medal.html |title = Company fined for selling fake Medals of Honor |work = US News |publisher = CNN |accessdate = July 21, 2006|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060203042609/http://www.cnn.com/US/9612/04/briefs/medal.html |archivedate = February 3, 2006|deadurl=yes}}</ref>

* 1996: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, resident Jackie Stern was convicted of wearing a Medal of Honor to which he was not entitled. A federal judge sentenced him to serve one year of probation and to write a letter of apology to each of the then-living 171 recipients of the medal. His letter was published in the local newspaper.<ref name="stern">{{Cite news|date = December 4, 1996 |url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9612/04/medal.without.honor/ |title = Florida Man wears medal without Honor |work = US News |publisher = CNN |accessdate = September 30, 2006}}</ref>

* 2003: Edward Fedora and Gisela Fedora were charged with violating {{uscsub|18|704|b}}, ''Unlawful Sale of a Medal of Honor'', for selling medals awarded to U.S. Navy Sailor [[Robert Blume]] (for action in the [[Spanish-American War]]) and to U.S. Army First Sergeant George Washington Roosevelt (for action in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]) to an [[FBI]] agent.<ref name="blume">{{cite web|date = July 9, 2003 |url = http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel03/metal070903.htm |title = Defendants Charged With Conspiracy to Sell Several Congressional Medals of Honor |publisher = Federal Bureau of Investigation |accessdate = July 23, 2006 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060720022357/http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel03/metal070903.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = July 20, 2006}}</ref> Edward Fedora pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison.<ref name="edward">{{cite web|date = May 28, 2004 |url = http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may04/052804medal.htm |title = Honoring Our Veterans |publisher = Federal Bureau of Investigation |accessdate = July 23, 2006}}</ref>

==Duplicate medals==
Medal of Honor recipients may apply in writing to the headquarters of the service branch of the medal awarded for a replacement or display Medal of Honor, ribbon, and appurtenance (Medal of Honor flag) without charge. Primary next of kin may also do the same and have any questions answered in regard to the Medal of Honor that was awarded.<ref>DoD Manual 1348.33, Nov. 10, 2010, Vol. 1, P. 29, 6., a., (1), (2) & P. 35, i.</ref>

==Recipients==
{{Main|List of Medal of Honor recipients}}
The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3,461 different persons.<ref name="currentstats">{{cite web|author=Navy.mil |url=http://www.navy.mil/moh/faq.html |title=MOH Stats |accessdate=10 March 2013 |quote=3,465 medals have been awarded to 3,446 different people }}</ref><ref name="usmcmoh">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmohs.org/medal-statistics.php |title=Archive Statistics |publisher=CMOHS.org |date=2012-05-16 |accessdate=2012-11-15}}</ref>

A total of 19 men have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice, 14 of these received two separate medals for two separate actions, while 5 received both the Navy and Army Medals of Honor for the same action.<ref>{{cite web|title=Double Recipients|url=http://www.cmohs.org/double-recipients.php|work=http://www.cmohs.org/|publisher=Congressional Medal of Honor Society|accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref> As of June 2011, since the beginning of World War II, 851 Medals of Honor have been awarded, 523 (61.45%) posthumously.<ref name="CoMH-MOHstatsJune2011"/> Since the Medal of Honor has been awarded 621 (17.90%) have been awarded posthumously.<ref name="CoMH-MOHstatsJune2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/mohstats.html |title=Medal of Honor Statistics |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=27 June 2011 |work=Center of Military History |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>

* The first Medals of Honor (Army) were awarded by and presented to six "[[Andrews Raiders]]" on March 25, 1863, by [[Secretary of War]] [[Edwin Stanton]], in his office in the War Department. Private [[Jacob Parrott]], a Union Army volunteer from Ohio, became the first recipient of the medal, awarded to him for his volunteering for and participation in, a raid on a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] train in [[Big Shanty]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] on April 12, 1862 during the [[American Civil War]]. The six decorated raiders met privately afterwards with President Lincoln in his office in the White House.<ref name="MWxviii"/><ref>"Stealing the General: Great Locomotive Chase and The First Medal of Honor, ISBN 10-I-59416-033-3, 2006, by Russell S. Bonds</ref>

* The first Medal of Honor (Navy) went to 41 sailors by Secretary of War Stanton on April 4, 1863 (17 for action during the [[Battle of Fort Jackson]] and St. Phillip on April 24, 1862) during the American Civil War.

* The first Marine awarded the Medal of Honor (Navy) was [[John F. Mackie]] on July 10, 1863 for his rifle action aboard the [[USS Galena]] on May 15, 1862.

* The first and only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor (Navy, posthumous) was Signalman First Class [[Douglas Albert Munro|Douglas Munro]] on May 27, 1943 for evacuating 500 Marines under fire on September 27, 1942 during the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal|Battle of Guadalcanal]].<ref name=CD19>{{harvnb|Collier|Del Calso|2006|p.=19}}</ref> Munro was a Canadian-born, [[Naturalization#United States|naturalized]] U.S. citizen.<ref>{{cite news |title="Did they get off?" - Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro, U.S. Coast Guard, Medal of Honor, WWII, Guadalcanal (1919-1942) |author=Duane Vachon |url=http://www.hawaiireporter.com/did-they-get-off-signalman-first-class-douglas-a-munro-u-s-coast-guard-medal-of-honor-wwii-guadalcanal-1919-1942/123 |newspaper=Hawaii Reporter |date=15 September 2012 |accessdate=22 March 2013}}</ref>

* The first and only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor (Army) is [[Mary Edwards Walker]] who was a civilian Union Army surgeon during the American Civil War. Awarded 1865 for the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], July 21, 1861 and a series of battles to the [[Battle of Atlanta]] in Sept. 1864 ..."for usual medal of honor meritorious services".<ref name="walker">{{harvnb|Mikaelian|Wallace|2003|p=8}}</ref>

* 61 [[Canada|Canadians]] who served in the United States Armed Forces, mostly during the American Civil War. Since 1900, four Canadians have received the medal.<ref name="cbc">{{Cite news|date = July 1, 2005 |url = http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/07/01/canadians-usmedal050701.html |title = Canada honours winners of top U.S. medal |publisher = CBC News|accessdate = July 20, 2006|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070529190113/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/07/01/canadians-usmedal050701.html |archivedate = May 29, 2007|deadurl=yes}}</ref> The only Canadian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen to receive the medal for heroism during the Vietnam War was [[Peter C. Lemon]].<ref name="vwam">{{Cite news|url = http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/07/01/canadians-usmedal050701.html |title = Thousands of Canadians, including a Medal of Honor winner, served with the U.S. military in Vietnam |publisher = Veterans With a Mission |accessdate = July 20, 2006|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070529190113/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/07/01/canadians-usmedal050701.html |archivedate = May 29, 2007|deadurl=yes | date=July 1, 2005}}</ref>

While the governing statute for the Army Medal of Honor({{UnitedStatesCode|10|6241}}), beginning in 1918, explicitly stated that a recipient must be "an officer or enlisted man of the Army," "distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," and perform an act of valor "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy,"<ref name="Act of July 9, 1918, 40 Stat. 870"/>  exceptions have been made:

* [[Charles Lindbergh]], 1927, civilian pilot, and [[U.S. Army Air Corps]] reserve officer.<ref>"An Act Authorizing the President of the United States to present in the name of Congress a medal of honor to Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh," December 14, 1927, HR 3190, Public Law 1, 45 Stat. 1</ref>  Lindbergh's medal was authorized by a special act of Congress that directly contradicted the July 1918 act of Congress that required that all Army recipients be "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy."<ref name="Act of July 9, 1918, 40 Stat. 870"/>  The award was based on the previous acts authorizing the Navy medal to Byrd and Bennett (see above).  Some congressmen objected to Lindbergh's award because it contradicted the 1918 statute, but Representative Snell reportedly quelled this dissent by explaining that "it was and it wasn't the Congressional Medal of Honor which Lindbergh would receive under his bill; that the Lindbergh medal would be entirely distinct from the valor award for war service."<ref>C.B. Allen, "Bravey vs. Ballyhoo: How America Honors Her Heroes of the Air," ''Outlook and Independent'', January 7, 1931, 13.</ref> 
* Major General (Retired) [[Adolphus Greely]], 1935, was awarded the medal "for his life of splendid public service" on his 91st birthday.  The result of a special act of Congress similar to Lindbergh's, Greely's medal citation did not reference any acts of valor.<ref>William Putnam, ''Arctic Superstars: The Scientific Exploration and Study of High Mountain Elevations and of the Regions Lying Within or about the Arctic and Antarctic Circles '' (Boulder, CO: American Alpine Club, 2001), 171.</ref>
* Foreign unknown recipients include the [[The Unknown Warrior|British Unknown Warrior]], the [[Arc de Triomphe#The Unknown Soldier|French Unknown Soldier]], the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest|Romanian Unknown Soldier]], the [[Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II#Unknown soldier|Italian Unknown Soldier]], and the Belgian Unknown Soldier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/asaoc.html |title=Medal of Honor Recipients - Authorized by Special Acts of Congress |publisher=History.army.mil |date= |accessdate=May 26, 2012}}</ref>
* U.S. unknown recipients include the Unknowns of World War I,<ref>War Department General orders, No. 59, 13 December 1921, Sec. I</ref> World War II,<ref>Approved March 9, 1948, Public Law 438, Eightieth Congress</ref> Korea,<ref>Approved August 31, 1957, Public Law 85-251 Eighty-fifth Congress</ref> and Vietnam.<ref>Approved May 25, 1984, Public Law 98-301, Ninety-eighth Congress</ref>  The Vietnam Unknown was later identified as Air Force 1st [[Michael Blassie|Lt. Michael J. Blassie]] through the use of DNA identification.  Blassie's family asked for his Medal of Honor, but the request was denied by the Department of Defense in 1998.  According to Undersecretary of Defense Rudy de Leon, the medal was awarded symbolically to all Vietnam unknowns, not to Blassie specifically.<ref>"Medal Of Honor Won't Join Once-unknown Pilot," ''Chicago Tribune'', August 23, 1998.</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!width=15%|Conflict!!width=15%|Date!!width=15%|Medal Count!! class=unsortable|list article
|-
|[[American Civil War|Civil War]]
|1861–1865
|1522
|[[List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients|American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients]]
|-
|[[Indian Wars]]
| 1865-1891
|426
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars|Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars]]
|-
|[[Sinmiyangyo|Korean Expedition]]
| 1871
|15
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#Korean Expedition|Medal of Honor recipients in Korea]]
|-
|[[Spanish-American War]]
| 1898
|110
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Spanish–American War|Medal of Honor recipients for the Spanish–American War]]
|-
|[[Samoan Civil War]]
| 1886–1894
|4
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#Samoan Civil War|Medal of Honor recipients for the Samoan Civil War]]
|-
|[[Philippine-American War]]
| 1899–1902
|86
|[[List of Philippine–American War Medal of Honor recipients|Philippine–American War Medal of Honor recipients]]
|-
|[[Boxer Rebellion]]
| 1899–1901
|59
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Boxer Rebellion|Medal of Honor recipients for the Boxer Rebellion]]
|-
|[[United States occupation of Veracruz|Occupation of Veracruz]]
| 1914
|56
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients (Veracruz)|Medal of Honor recipients for Veracruz]]
|-
|[[United States occupation of Haiti]]
| 1915–1934
|8
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#Invasion and occupation of Haiti|Medal of Honor recipients for Haiti]]
|-
|[[1916 United States occupation of the Dominican Republic|Dominican Republic Occupation]]
| 1916–1924
|3
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#Occupation of the Dominican Republic|Medal of Honor recipients for the Occupation of the Dominican Republic]]
|-
|[[World War I]]
| 1914–1918
|124
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War I|Medal of Honor recipients for World War I]]
|-
|[[Occupation of Nicaragua]]
| 1912–1933
|2
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#Occupation of Nicaragua|Medal of Honor recipients for Occupation of Nicaragua]]
|-
|[[World War II]]
| 1939–1945
|464
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II|Medal of Honor recipients for World War II]]
|-
|[[Korean War]]
| 1950–1953
|136
|[[List of Korean War Medal of Honor recipients|Korean War Medal of Honor recipients]]
|-
|[[Vietnam War]]
| 1955–1975
|247
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War|Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War]]
|-
|[[USS Liberty incident|USS ''Liberty'' incident]]
| 1967
|1
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#USS Liberty incident|Medal of Honor recipients for the USS Liberty incident]]
|-
||[[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]]
| 1993
|2
|[[List of Post Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients#Somalia|Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Mogadishu]]
|-
|[[Iraq War]]
| 2003–2011
|4
|[[List of Post Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients#Iraq War|Medal of Honor recipients for the Iraq War]]
|-
|[[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan War]]
| 2001–present
|8
|[[List of Post Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients#Afghanistan|Medal of Honor recipients for the War in Afghanistan]]
|-
|[[Peace]]time
|
|193
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients during peacetime|Medal of Honor recipients during peacetime]]
|-
|[[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier|Unknown soldiers]]
|
|9
|[[List of Medal of Honor recipients#Foreign|Unknown Medal of Honor recipients]]
|}

{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+'''By branch of service'''
|-<!--Header-->
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFEFEF; color:#000000; width:100px;"| Service
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFEFEF; color:#000000; width:100px;"| Army
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFEFEF; color:#000000; width:100px;"| Navy
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFEFEF; color:#000000; width:100px;"| Marines
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFEFEF; color:#000000; width:100px;"| Air Force
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFEFEF; color:#000000; width:100px;"| Coast Guard
|-<!--Row 1-->
|align=center| Awards
|align=center| 2413
|align=center| 747
|align=center| 298
|align=center| 18
|align=center| 1
|}

===Double recipients===
Nineteen men have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice. Five of these men were awarded both the Army and Navy Medal of Honor for the same action.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/mohstats.html |title=Medal of Honor Statistics |publisher=History.army.mil |date= |accessdate=May 12, 2012}}</ref> Since February 1919, no single individual can be awarded more than one Medal of Honor for the same action, although a member of one branch of the armed forces can receive the Medal of Honor from another branch if the actions for which it was awarded occurred under the authority of the second branch.<ref>{{cite book|title=1919 Supplement to United States Complied Statutes, 1918|year=1919|publisher=West Publishing Company |pages=30, 49|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=A9MZAAAAYAAJ&dq|accessdate=May 12, 2012}}</ref> To date, the maximum number of Medals of Honor earned by any service member has been two.<ref name=navyfaq/>

:<small> § Rank refers to rank held at time of Medal of Honor action.</small>
{|class="wikitable sortable nowraplinks"
|-
! Name !! Service !! Rank<sup>§</sup> !! War(s) !! Notes
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Baldwin</span>[[Frank Baldwin]]||[[US Army|Army]]||First Lieutenant, Captain||[[American Civil War]], [[Indian Wars]]||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Butler</span>[[Smedley Butler]]||[[US Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]||Major||[[United States occupation of Veracruz|Veracruz]], [[United States occupation of Haiti|Haiti]]||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Cooper</span>[[John Laver Mather Cooper|John Cooper]]||[[US Navy|Navy]]||[[Coxswain]]||American Civil War||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Cukela</span>[[Louis Cukela]]||Marine Corps||Sergeant||[[World War I]]||Awarded both Navy and Army versions for same action.
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Custer</span>[[Thomas Custer]]||Army||Second Lieutenant||American Civil War||[[Battle of Namozine Church]] on 3 April and [[Battle of Sayler's Creek]] on 6 April 1865.
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Daly</span>[[Daniel Daly]]||Marine Corps||Private, Gunnery Sergeant||[[Boxer Rebellion]], Haiti||<ref>[http://www.stephenwscott.com/ "Scott, Stephen W."], (2009) Sergeant Major Dan Daly; The Most Outstanding Marine of all Time. Publishamerica Publishers. ISBN 1-60836-465-8.</ref>
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Hogan</span>[[Henry Hogan]]||Army||First Sergeant||Indian Wars||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Janson</span>[[Ernest A. Janson]]||Marine Corps||Gunnery Sergeant||World War I||Both awarded for same action. Received the Army MOH under the name Charles F. Hoffman.
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Kelly</span>[[John J. Kelly]]||Marine Corps||Private||World War I||Both awarded for same action.
|-
|<span style="display:none;">King</span>[[John King (sailor)|John King]]||Navy||Water tender||Peacetime||1901 and 1909
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Kocak</span>[[Matej Kocak]]||Marine Corps||Sergeant||World War I||Both awarded for same action.
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Lafferty</span>[[John Lafferty]]||Navy||{{nowrap|Fireman, First Class Fireman}}||American Civil War, peacetime||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">McCloy</span>[[John C. McCloy]]||Navy||Coxswain, Chief Boatswain||Boxer Rebellion, Veracruz||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Mullen</span>[[Patrick Mullen (Medal of Honor)|Patrick Mullen]]||Navy||Boatswain's Mate||American Civil War||
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Pruitt</span>[[John H. Pruitt]]||Marine Corps||Corporal||World War I||Both awarded for same action.
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Sweeney</span>[[Robert Augustus Sweeney|Robert Sweeney]]||Navy||Ordinary Seaman||Peacetime||1881 and 1883
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Weisbogel</span>[[Albert Weisbogel]]||Navy||Captain of the Mizzen Top ||Peacetime||1874 and 1876
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Williams</span>[[Ludwig Andreas Olsen|Louis Williams]]||Navy||Captain of the Hold||Peacetime||1883 and 1884.  Also known as [[Ludwig Andreas Olsen]].
|-
|<span style="display:none;">Wilson</span>[[William Wilson (soldier)|William Wilson]]||Army||Sergeant||Indian Wars||
|}

===Related recipients===
[[Arthur MacArthur, Jr.]] and [[Douglas MacArthur]] are the first father and son to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The only other such pairing is [[Theodore Roosevelt]] (awarded in 2001) and [[Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.]]

Five pairs of brothers have received the Medal of Honor:
*[[John C. Black|John]] and [[William P. Black|William Black]], in the [[American Civil War]]. The Blacks are the first brothers to be so honored.
*[[Charles E. Capehart|Charles]] and [[Henry Capehart]], in the American Civil War, the latter for saving a drowning man while under fire.
*[[Antoine August Michel Gaujot|Antoine]] and [[Julien Edmund Victor Gaujot|Julien Gaujot]]. The Gaujots also have the unique distinction of receiving their medals for actions in separate conflicts, Antoine in the [[Philippine-American War]] and Julien when he crossed the border to rescue Mexicans and Americans in a [[Mexican Revolution]] skirmish.
*[[Harry Herbert Miller|Harry]] and [[Willard Miller]], during the same naval action in the [[Spanish-American War]].
*[[Allen and James Thompson]], in the same American Civil War action.
Another notable pair of related recipients are Admiral [[Frank Friday Fletcher]] (rear admiral at the time of award) and his nephew, Admiral [[Frank Jack Fletcher]] (lieutenant at the time of award), both awarded for actions during the [[United States occupation of Veracruz]].

===Belated recipients===
Since 1979, 50 belated Medal of Honor decorations have been made to recognize actions from the Civil War to the Vietnam War.<ref>''[http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30011.pdf Medal of Honor recipients 1979–2007]''{{dead link|date=April 2013}}. Julissa Gomez-Granger, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress</ref> The most recent of these occurred on April 11, 2013 when President Obama presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to [[Chaplain Corps (United States Army)|Army chaplain]] Captain [[Emil Kapaun]] for his actions as a [[Korean War#Prisoners of war|prisoner of war]] during the Korean war.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Barack Obama |year=2013 |title=Army Chaplain Gets Posthumous Medal of Honor |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV-Y2N_z3FE |accessdate=16 April 2013 |publisher=Associated Press }}<br/>{{cite news |title=Medal of Honor for US Army chaplain Father Kapaun  |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22111385 |newspaper=BBC News |date=11 April 2013 |accessdate=16 April 2013}}<br/>{{cite news |title=Obama awards Kapaun Medal of Honor |author=Krissah Thompson |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/04/11/obama-awards-kapaun-medal-of-honor/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=11 April 2013 |accessdate=16 April 2013}}</ref>  This follows other recent awardings to Army Sergeant [[Leslie H. Sabo, Jr.]] for conspicuous gallantry in action on May 10, 1970, near [[Tonlé San|Se San]], [[Cambodia]], during the Vietnam War<ref name=cbsnews5-16-12>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57435607/gi-killed-in-vietnam-war-receives-medal-of-honor/ |title=GI killed in Vietnam War receives Medal of Honor |publisher=CBS News |date= |accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref> and to Army Private First Class [[Henry Svehla]] and Army Private First Class [[Anthony T. Kahoʻohanohano]] for their heroic actions during the Korean War.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marsh |first=Wendell |title=Two Korean War vets receive Medal of Honor posthumously |publisher=Reuters |date=May 2, 2011 |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/02/us-obama-medals-idUSTRE7416NA20110502 |archiveurl =http://www.webcitation.org/5ySuVarC7 |archivedate= May 5, 2011}}</ref>

==27th Maine and other revoked awardings==
[[File:Medal of Honor monument, Austin, TX IMG 2206.JPG|right|thumb|A Medal of Honor monument at the [[Texas State Cemetery]] in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]]]]

During the Civil War, [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Edwin M. Stanton]] promised a Medal of Honor to every man in the [[27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] who extended his enlistment beyond the agreed-upon date. The Battle of Gettysburg was imminent, and 311 men of the regiment volunteered to serve until the battle was resolved. The remaining men returned to Maine, but with the Union victory at Gettysburg the 311 volunteers soon followed. The volunteers arrived back in Maine in time to be discharged with the men who had earlier returned. Since there seemed to be no official list of the 311 volunteers, the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] exacerbated the situation by forwarding 864 medals to the commanding officer of the regiment. The commanding officer only issued the medals to the volunteers who stayed behind and retained the others on the grounds that, if he returned the remainder to the War Department, the War Department would try to reissue the medals.<ref name="MWxix">{{harvnb|Mikaelian|Wallace|2003|p=xix}}</ref>

In 1916, a board of five Army generals on the retired list convened under act of law to review every Army Medal of Honor awarded. The board was to report on any Medals of Honor awarded or issued for any cause other than distinguished service. The commission, led by [[Nelson A. Miles]], identified 911 awards for causes other than distinguished service. This included the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine regiment, 29 who served as Abraham Lincoln's funeral guard, six civilians, including Dr. Mary Edwards Walker and Buffalo Bill Cody, and 12 others.<ref name="MWxxv">{{harvnb|Mikaelian|Wallace|2003|p=xxv}}</ref><ref name=CD15>{{harvnb|Collier|Del Calzo|2006|p=15}}</ref> Dr. Walker's medal was restored by President [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1977.<ref name="walker"/> Cody and four other civilian scouts who rendered distinguished service in action, and who were therefore considered by the board to have fully earned their medals, had theirs restored in 1989.<ref name=CD16>{{harvnb|Collier|Del Calzo|2006|p=16}}</ref> The report was endorsed by the [[Judge Advocate General's Corps|Judge Advocate General]], who also advised that the War Department should not seek the return of the revoked medals from the recipients identified by the board. In the case of recipients who continued to wear the medal, the War Department was advised to take no action to enforce the statute.<ref>66th Congress 1st Session, Document 58, General Staff and Medals of Honor, ordered to be printed 23 July 1919.</ref>

==Past racial discrimination==
* A 1993 study commissioned by the U.S. Army investigated racial discrimination in the awarding of medals.<ref name="African">{{cite web|url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/mohb.html |title = WWII African American MOH recipients |publisher= [[United States Army Center of Military History]] |accessdate = July 20, 2006}}</ref> At the time, no Medals of Honor had been awarded to American soldiers of [[African descent]] who served in World War II. After an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that ten of their [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] recipients be awarded the Medal of Honor. On January 13, 1997, President [[Bill Clinton]] presented the Medal of Honor to seven of these World War II veterans, six of them posthumously.  With the passing of [[Vernon Baker]], a former [[U.S. Infantry|U.S. Army Infantry]] [[Officer (armed forces)|Officer]] on July 13, 2010, all of these recipients are deceased.<ref name=CD25/>

* In 1998, a similar study of [[Asian American]]s resulted in President [[Bill Clinton]] presenting 22 Medals of Honor in 2000.<ref name="AsianDoD">{{cite web |url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45241 |title=22 Asian Americans Inducted into Hall of Heroes |author=Rudi Williams |date=28 June 2000 |work=American Forces Press Service |publisher=United States Department of Defense |accessdate=9 March 2013}}</ref> Twenty of these medals went to American soldiers of [[Japanese people|Japanese]] descent of the [[442nd Regimental Combat Team]] (442nd RCT) that served in the [[European Theater of Operations]] during World War II.<ref name="AsianDoD"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Today, an old wrong is righted as 22 Asian-American heroes are awarded the nation's highest honor for bravery in battle |author=Gregg K. Kakesako |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2000/06/21/special/ |newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |date=21 June 2000 |accessdate=9 March 2013}}</ref> One of these Medal of Honor recipients was Senator [[Daniel Inouye]], a former U.S. Army Infantry officer in the 442nd RCT.<ref name=CD25>{{harvnb|Collier|Del Calzo|2006|p=25}}</ref>

* In 2005, President [[George W. Bush]] presented the Medal of Honor to [[Tibor Rubin]], a [[Jewish American]] who was a [[Holocaust survivor]] of World War II and enlisted U.S. Infantryman and [[POW]] of the [[Korean War]] whom many believed to have been overlooked because of his [[religion]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Medal of Honor recipient just did duty |author=Nguyen Huy Vu |url=http://www.ocregister.com/news/medal-207819-honor-rubin.html |newspaper=Orange County Register |date=18 October 2005 |accessdate=9 March 2013}}<br/>{{cite news |title=Pentagon Reviews Jewish Veteran Files |author=Tom Tugend |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/pentagon_reviews_jewish_veteran_files_20020517 |newspaper=Jewish Journal |date=16 May 2002 |accessdate=98 March 2013}}<br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/rubin/profile/index.html |title=Corporal Tibor Rubin, Korean War Veteran |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1 February 2013 |work=Medal of Honor Corporal Tibor Rubin |publisher=United States Army |accessdate=9 March 2013}}</ref>

==Similar decorations within the United States==
The following decorations, in one degree or another, bear similar names to the Medal of Honor, but are entirely separate awards with different criteria for issuance:

* [[Cardenas Medal of Honor]]: decoration of the [[Revenue Cutter Service]], merged into the [[United States Coast Guard]]

* [[Chaplain's Medal for Heroism]]: awarded posthumously for a single action to [[Four Chaplains|four recipients]]

* [[Congressional Gold Medal]]: the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States (along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom)

* [[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]]: intended for issuance to astronauts, but despite its name, it is not equal to the Medal of Honor

* [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]: the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States (along with the Congressional Gold Medal)

* Several [[United States law enforcement decorations]] bear the name "Medal of Honor". The [[Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor]], established by Congress in 2001 and stated to be "the highest National award for valor by a public safety officer", is also awarded by the President of the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.medalofvalor.gov/ |title=Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor
|publisher=Bureau of Justice Assistance |accessdate=January 26, 2012}}</ref>



==See also==
{{Portal|Military of the United States}}
* [[Distinguished Intelligence Cross]]
* [[Kentucky Medal of Honor Memorial]]
* [[Medal of Honor Memorial (Indianapolis)]]
* [[Texas Medal of Honor Memorial]]
* [[Military awards and decorations]]

==Notes==
;Footnotes
{{reflist|group=Note}}

;Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}

;References cited
{{refbegin|30em}}
:{{ACMH}}
*{{citation|last=Collier |first=Peter |last2=Del Calzo |first2=Nick |title=Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty |year=2006 |publisher=[[Workman Publishing Company]] |location=[[New York City, New York]] |isbn=978-1-57965-462-7}}
*{{citation|first=Allen |last=Mikaelian |first2=Mike |last2=Wallace |title=Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present |year=2003 |publisher=[[Hyperion Books]] |location=[[New York City, New York]] |isbn=978-0-7868-8576-3}}
{{refend}}
*{{Cite book
| last     = Broadwater |first=Robert P. |title= Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: a complete illustrated record
| location = Jefferson, NC |publisher= McFarland & Co.|year= 2007| ISBN= 0-786-43223-3|OCLC=144767966 }}

*{{Cite book
| last     = Collier |first= Peter|last2=Del Calzo |first2=Nick|title= Medal of Honor: portraits of valor beyond the call of duty
| location = New York |publisher= Artisan|year=2011| ISBN= 1-579-65462-2|OCLC=712124011 }}

*{{Cite book
| last     = Curtis |first=Arthur S. |title= 37 greatest navy heroes: including the story of Marvin Shields, First Seabee Medal of Honor Hero (Vietnam) 
| location = Washington, D.C. |year= 1969|OCLC=10660663 }}

*{{Cite book
| last     = DeKever |first= Andrew J.|title= Here rests in honored glory: life stories of our country's Medal of Honor recipients
| location = Bennigton, Vermont |publisher=Merriam Press |year= 2008| ISBN= 1-435-71749-X|OCLC=233835859}}

*{{Cite book
| last     = Foster |first= Frank C.|title= A complete guide to all United States military medals, 1939 to present
| location = Fountain Inn, S.C. |publisher= MOA Press|year= 2002| ISBN= 1-884-45218-3|OCLC= 54755134}}

*{{Cite book
| last     =  Hanna|first=Charles W. |title= African american recipients of the Medal of Honor : a biographical dictionary, Civil War through Vietnam War
| location = Jefferson |publisher= Mcfarland|year= 2010| ISBN= 0-786-44911-X|OCLC= 476156919}}

*{{Cite book
| last     = Johnson |first=John L. |title= Every night & every morn: portraits of Asian, Hispanic, Jewish, African-American, and Native-American recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor 
| location = Winston-Salem, NC |publisher=Tristan Press |year= 2007| ISBN= 0-979-95720-6|OCLC= 180773640}}

*{{Cite book
| last     = Willbanks |first=James H. |title= America's heroes: Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan 
| location = Santa Barbara, CA |publisher= ABC-CLIO |year= 2011| ISBN= 1-598-84394-X|OCLC=662405903}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.cmohs.org/ Congressional Medal of Honor Society]
* [http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/ U.S. Army Medal of Honor]
* [http://www.ussnautilus.org/medalofhonor/index.shtml Submarine Force Medal of Honor Recipients]. Submarine Force Museum website
* [http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:indigenous-native-americans-who-have-received-the-medal-of-honor&catid=52:north-america-indigenous-peoples&Itemid=74 List of Native Americans who have received the Medal of Honor]
*[http://www.voicenet.com/~lpadilla/mohintro.html History, Legend and Myth: Hollywood and the Medal of Honor] (Medal of Honor recipients depicted on film)
* [http://www.mohm.org/ National Medal of Honor Museum of Military History] in Chattanooga, Tennessee
* [http://www.pbs.org/weta/americanvalor/ American Valor] PBS/WETA.
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21880 Loubat, J. F. and Jacquemart, Jules, Illustrator, ''The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876''.]
* [http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/medal_of_honor.aspx U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry: Medal of Honor]
* [http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/Home/The-Medal-Of-Honor.aspx Pritzker Military Library]

{{Highest Awards for gallantry}}
{{US interservice decorations}}
{{USArmy decorations}}
{{US navy department decorations}}
{{USAF decorations}}
{{USCG decorations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medal Of Honor}}
[[Category:Medal of Honor| 01]]
[[Category:Courage awards]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Department of Defense]]
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of the United States]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Air Force]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1862]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in the United States]]

{{Link FA|hu}}
{{Link FA|ru}}
{{Link FA|uk}}
{{Link GA|fr}}
{{Link GA|uk}}