The Pittsburgh Press (March 26, 1944)
Medal of Honor awarded to 32 in Army, 44 in Navy
Washington (UP) – (March 25)
Since Pearl Harbor, 32 men out of an Army of about 7,500,000 and 44 men out of the approximately three million in the naval services, have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for heroism.
Authorized by Congress for any man who distinguished himself “by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty,” the medal stems from an award voted by Congress in July 1862, for enlisted men who distinguished themselves during the “rebellion.”
A second act in 1863 authorized it for officers. In the Navy, the medal was not authorized for officers until 1915.
Becomes harder to get
In the Army, the Medal of Honor at first was also presented for merit. Now, however, merit is rewarded with the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal, which were not created until 1918. As a result, fewer Medals of Honor are presented now than 80 years ago.
The first Navy Medals of Honor were authorized in 1861 for “petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines” for gallantry in action and “other seamanlike qualities.” In 1901, the medal was authorized to be awarded only to a man who distinguished himself in battle or displayed extraordinary heroism.
95 in World War I
Prior to World War I, 1,723 Army Medals of Honor were awarded. During 1917-18, there were 95, and in the present war, already longer than World War I, there have been but 32 presentations.
However, the Navy has awarded more Medals of Honor in this war than it did in the last because there has been more naval action in this war. In World War I, 12 Navy men and seven Marines received it.
Four Army men and five Marines have won the medal twice. The Army men won both their medals prior to 1917. In 1918, the five Marines received the medals from both the Army and Navy for the same action.
2 peacetime awards
No woman has ever received a Medal of Honor from either the Army or the Navy.
Only in rare instances has the medal been awarded in time of peace. This occurred, however, in 1927, when Charles A. Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight to Paris. Another recipient, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, did not receive his medal until 1937, although he earned it in 1918.
