Conflicting Information In the Honor Roll Of

Medal of Honor Recipients

 

 

Three years ago I began posting the pages of the HomeOfHeroes.com website.  During the period I have received hundreds of mail from Medal of Honor recipients, surviving family members of deceased MOH recipients, and MOH history buffs that have provided much additional, new, and/or corrected information on many heroes.  Initially I attempted to correct pages as this information came in.  At the same time I began work on a large MS© Access© database in what has been a 3-year project that has consumed thousands of hours of data input, cross-referencing of information, and database design.

That database is now almost completed (based upon the information I have at present...additional information will be added as I obtain it in future years).  I have deferred correction of many website pages to first complete this database which will allow me to print completely updated reports (Recipients by state, Burial Locations, etc.), then compare and quickly update the pages in our site.  During the months of August and September I hope to accomplish this task.  (Following which I will be correcting errors in any and all of the 3,451 citations available from our site.)

Correcting the unofficial record:

As most Medal of Honor historians already know, there has been much confusion regarding many records over the years.  Thanks to old obituaries, e-mails from surviving relatives, and the help of many friends in historical societies around the country, I have been able to resolve many of the discrepancies in some of these records.  My goal is to prepare a database from which I can build this site to be as accurate a record as possible. In my research I have used two common reference works predominantly, comparing data between them an other publications (Palimpsest, obituaries, other books and reference materials, etc.  The two primary sources I use are: Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1994  by Lang, Collins, & White United States Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients    And their Official Citations published by Highland House II When I find discrepancies between information in these two works, I often refer to other sources including: Medal of Honor 1861 - 1949  published by the US Navy Above and Beyond published by Boston Publishing (1985) Acts of Bravery by W.F. Beyer and O.F. Keydel  (1994) The Badge of Gallantry by Joseph B. Mitchell (1968) Uncle Sam's Medal of Honor by Theodore Rodenbough (1886) Edward Murphy's 3 Medal of Honor books (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) Other books and autobiographies In the table below are some of the discrepancies I've found in the first 250 records.  I invite you to review these and, if you have information to shed light on the correct information, please take time to share it with me.  When possible, please provide source or other information to make verification easier. NOTE:  In most instances, unless indicated otherwise, the information to which I defer until I receive contrary verification, is the information researched and published by Lang, Collins, and White.  The term "Citation Book" refers to the Medal of Honor Citation book shown at right. If you have copies of either or both of these books, this page will enable you to also make those corrections in your book(s).  Upon receiving information from credible sources to resolve this differences, we will link to a separate page showing the correct information so you can update your own books.

Conflicting Medal of Honor Recipient Data

E-mail Doug Sterner

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