Taken from Texas Co-Op power magazine.

41 Million Americans have served in the military all-time and more than 2 million have earned Purple Hearts, just 3,547 Medals of Honor have been conferred in more than 160 years. There are 19 double recipients. More than 600 of the medias have been awarded posthumously - a testament of the sacrifice required for the Honor. Seventy-seven Medals of Honor have been awarded to Texans. Today there are 61 total living recipients across the U.S.

Only one woman has been awarded the Medla of Honor: Mary Edward's Walker, who served as Union Army surgeon during the Civil War.

Only one President has a Medal of Honor. Theodore Roosevelt, for his service during the Spanish-American War.

Nineteen Americans have been awarded two Medals of Honor.

The youngest Medal of Honor recipient, Willie Johnson, earned the award as an 11-year old drummer during the Civil War.

The new National Medal of Honor museum just opened in Arlington on the 23rd. Worth a visit to honor the great sacrifices that were made for our freedom.

I was unaware that Medal of Honor also came with money. 1500 bucks a month or something close to that

From the VA website: https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/special-benefit-allowance-rates/

Yes.

I finally have a reason to go to Arlington.

Really is the least the government can do, for these recipients.

I am extra curious about the 19 double recipients.

Talk about some Hard Chargers!

Indeed.

Absolutely. But there are over 400,000 reasons to go to Arlington.

Arlington, Texas

Or just a lot of bad luck. Or good luck for making it through. But just imagine the absolute worst day of your life, twice.

M.O.H. recipients got it by risking their own lives, greatly, and also saved fellow Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen in the process of their actions. They could have protected their own lives, but did not, in the interest of their brothers. Luck has zero to do with it. And luck does not exist, it goes against God.

The worst days of my life have been repeated enough times, they are far less significant now. It's just a day that ends in "Y". Death, dismemberment, and destruction of homes, that probably pales in comparison to M.O.H. recipients.

Roger that, was just making a poor play on words, I guess.

Same here. I had no idea. If we’re going to spend some taxpayer’s money, this is as good a place to spend it as I can think of.

It was not a poor play on words. Arlington is the place of War fighters. Arlington, TX is the place of gangs doing gang things. We cannot do anything here

Not trying to take anything away from them. They are extraordinary people. But the M.O.H. is not awarded for being a hard charger. It is awarded to those who exhibit sacrificial love and bravery, and put it all on the line on the absolute worst day of their lives. On a level we will never know. Nobody wakes up and thinks “oh man, if I could just get another M.O.H.!” It’s probably more like “not again”.

I'm kin to Joe Ronnie Hooper though I don't think I ever met him. He is the very definition of a "hard charger." He was literally made for war and was destroyed when he no longer had a war to fight. He is one of the most decorated American soldiers in history.




Joe Ronnie Hooper

At a Spurs game many years back, at halftime they introduced four MOH recipients that had been given front ROW seats. You would have thought the Spurs just won a championship the way the crowd responded, it was awesome.

Plenty have been awarded posthumously when they gave it all.

I spent a few hours with Dakota Meyer several years ago. I thanked him for his service at the beginning and immediately went to everyday BS. We didn't talk at all about anything military. I had already read about his duty and the events that got him The Medal of Honor. I would describe him as a "Hard Charger" and would have after spending time with him that day even if I didn't know he was a Medal of Honor recipient. He definitely had the look in his eyes and demeanor of an intense person. If he was at your campfire, he'd be the guy that had a lot of stories, all true and serious, told in a matter-of-fact way. He would listen to your stories and if they were funny, he wouldn't laugh, just grin, you know the type. He was nice, well-spoken and well-mannered at the right moments.

I have been there, less than a mile away from a small team of Green Berets and a platoon of Afghan commandos that were hit with what we think was a recoilless rifle, and pinned down in a qalat. We were two platoons of Paratroopers and an ODA, and there were a whole bunch of hard chargers with us. And we watched and waited and begged for permission to go, we were dying to go get them. Permission never came, seems like days went by. Nobody said “screw it, i am gonna jump in a gun truck and go save them”.

Dakota Meyer might be a hard charger, but his actions exemplify selfless sacrificial love. You will never understand how much it means to ignore your orders to save your friends. I would bet my next check, he’d give his MOH and left and his right nuts to get his friends back.

I've met at least a half dozen MOH recipients and served with one (Alwyn Cashe). Heard several others speak. For the most part, they are all just regular guys. But they possess a fortitude that when faced with a decision at the moment of truth, it demanded that they not let their buddies down. But they also believe their buddies deserve that damned medal as much as they do.

I heard Sammy Davis speak in a post theater once. It is said, Sammy is the guy after whom Forrest Gump's Vietnam service was modeled. The first thing he does is take off his MOH and gives it to the first person in the first row, and asks them to pass it around so that the entire audience could see it and hold it. He tells the story in the below video, and then closes by playing "Shenandoah" on the harmonica. You could have heard a pin drop during the song, and you would be hard-pressed to find a dry eye in the theater. He's a national treasure.



Playing "Shenandoah."

Thanks for posting Kry.

I served with one. I asked him about it. He said he lost his cool, went apechit, and did some stupid stuff that he hardly remembered.,