December 21, 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln signs legislation presented earlier in the month by Iowa Senator James Grimes to create the Navy’s Medal of Honor.
July 12, 1862 – Again, President Lincoln signs legislation, this time presented by Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson to create the Army’s Medal of Honor.
March 25, 1863 – Secretary of War Edwin Stanton presents the first Medals of Honor to six members of the Army known as Andrews’ Raiders. At great risk to their own lives, they tried to disrupt a railroad line to Georgia. Private Jacob Parrott is the first of all recipients to have the Medal hung around their neck.
January 24, 1894 – Bernard Irwin wins the Medal of Honor for actions performed on February 13, 1861, making him the first recipient of the Medal of Honor based on the chronology of events.1
Through the years, 3,547 Medals of Honor have been awarded, acknowledging the courage, bravery, and values of those who did what was right when it mattered the most. Besides the ones mentioned, there are other notables who have received this honor.
Dr. Mary E. Walker, a surgeon and POW during the Civil War, was the first and only woman awarded this Medal. It was bestowed on November 11, 1865 by Andrew Johnson, then rescinded in 1916-1917 because she was a civilian, and finally restored posthumously in 1977.
Signalman First Class Douglass Munro was the first and only member of the Coast Guard to receive the Medal due to actions taken at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal on September 27, 1942.
William “Willie” Tate Johnston is the youngest to have received the Medal. At the age of 11, he enlisted and served as a drummer boy until he was 15. Assigned to Company D, 3rd Vermont Infantry, he was recognized for gallantry in the Seven Day Battle and Peninsula campaign of the Civil War.
William Carney, Joseph DeCastro, James Smith, Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish (English: Mad or Angry Bear), and Benjamin Levy were the first recipients of their respective ethnicities. The awards were not given, though, due to their nationalities. They were given because they met the qualifications required for our nation’s highest honor.
Over the years, the designs of the Medal of Honor have changed. What hasn’t changed is the purpose of the Medal – recognition and honor of heroic actions.
It is right, good, and Biblical to honor these individuals. Romans 13:7 clearly says, “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” Those who have sacrificially served our country, whether in wartime or peace, are to be honored for their gift to each of us. Those who have gone above and beyond in exceptional duty at the most critical of times deserve even greater honor.
Do your own Bible study and chase the word honor (KJV – honour) throughout your Bible and especially in the New Testament. You will find a list of those who deserve honor provided they meet the Biblical criteria: parents (Ephesians 6:2), widows (1 Timothy 5:3), pastors (1 Timothy 5:17), masters (1 Timothy 6:1), the king (1 Peter 2:17), and our wives (1 Peter 3:7) are just a few of the Biblical examples. For most of these, the only requirement is that they hold these positions.
Who else can we honor today? Think about these verses as you go through the day. Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.” And 1 Peter 2:17 requires us to “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”
1https://www.cmohs.org/medal/timeline
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