America’s Highest War Honor
The 78 Soldiers Who Won the Congressional Medal of Honor for an Act of Supreme Courage
England’s most coveted reward for heroism in battle is the Victoria Cross. France gives her Médaille Militaire; Germany, her Iron Cross.
There has been little need of war medals in the United States, but with the entrance of this country into the war Congress established its medal of honor—called by its full title, The Congressional Medal of Honor.
This decoration is given only to those who achieve an act of supreme courage, or, as “General Orders” have it, to those who in action “have fought with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty.”
Seventy-eight of the 1,200,000 men in the A. E. F. received these awards. Fifty-seven of this number were enlisted men, twenty-one were officers. Nineteen awards were posthumous. For every 15,400 soldiers who were in action one received the Congressional Medal.
The best showing was made by the 30th Division, the National Guard organization of the Carolinas and Tennessee. Second honors go to the 89th Division, which is the selective draft unit of Western Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, and New Mexico. The third largest is the 33rd or National Guard Division of Illinois. Fourth honors go to the famous 2nd Division of Regulars, which includes the Marines, while fifth place is shared by the two New York divisions, the 27th and 77th. The list follows: