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Many of the HERO STORIES, history, citations and other information detailed in this website are, at least for now, available in PRINT or DIGITAL format from AMAZON.COM. The below comprise the nearly 4-dozen  "Home Of Heroes" books currently available.

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Medal of Honor Books

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This series of books contains the citations for ALL Medals of Honor awarded to that branch of service, with brief biographical data and photos of many of the recipients. Some of them also include citations for other awards, analysis of awards, data tables and analysis and more. These are LARGE volumes, each 8 1/2" x 11" and more than 500 pages each. Click on a book to find it on Amazon.com where you can find more details on what is contained in each book, as well as to get a free preview. Each volume is $24.95.

Heroes in the War on Terrorism

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NAVY    -  MARINES   -  AIR FORCE   - ARMY O.E.F.  - ARMY O.I.F.

These books contain the citations for nearly all of the awards of the Silve Star and higher to members of each branch of service in the War on Terrorism. Books include photos of most recipients, some biographical data, analysis of awards by rank, unit, date, and more.

ENCYCLOPEDIA of AMERICAN MILITARY HEROES
With the 5 Medal of Honor volumes above, these compilations comprise a virtual 28-volume ENCYCLOPEDIA of decorated American heroes(15,000 pages)  with award citations, history, tables & analysis, and detailed indexes of ACEs, FLAG OFFICERS, and more. (Click on any book to see it in Amazon.com - $24.95 Each Volume)

United States Army Heroes

Distinguished Service Cross

 Distinguished Service Medals
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1873 - 1941 Korea Vietnam 1862 - 1960 RVN - Present

United States Navy Heroes
Navy Cross Silver Star Navy Corpsmen
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1915 - 1941 WWII Korea - Present WWII

United States Marine Corps Heroes
Navy Cross Silver Star
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1915 - WWII Korea - Present 1900 - 1941 WWII 1947 - Korea Vietnam - Present

WINGS OF VALOR
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The Defining Generation
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Visit My
AUTHOR PAGE
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MEDAL OF HONOR STATISTICS

Current as of  September 15, 2014

 

How many Medals of Honor have been awarded?
How many were awarded to each branch of service?
How many heroic acts have merited a Medal of Honor award?

If you have spent much time surfing Medal of Honor web sites, reading books, or otherwise seeking answers to these questions, you have probably concluded your quest with more questions than answers.  The numbers provided at one source are often different from the answers found at another, leaving you to wonder WHO is correct.  Chances are, they ALL are correct!  We have developed this page to help make some sense of these differing numbers.

Simply put there have been:

*3,510 Medals of Honor Awarded....
*For 3,505 Different acts of Heroism....
*Performed by 3,491 different individuals....
*Of whom 3,482 are identified by NAME in the Roll of Honor.
(The remaining 9 are awards to the Unknown Soldiers.)

These four statement provide a good STARTING POINT provided you insure that your Medal of Honor information is CURRENT.  Older reference books may not include Medal of Honor awards in the last several years.   Many reference works do not include those Medals presented since Ronald Reagan presented the Medal of Honor to Roy Benavidez on February 24, 1981.  Current Medal of Honor statistics include:

1)  The restoration of Medals of Honor to 5 civilian scouts during the Civil War and Indian Campaigns.  These 5 (including "Buffalo Bill" Cody) were part of the purge of 1917, but were restored on June 12, 1989.

2)  Awards of the Medal of Honor to new recipients listed in the table below:

Apr 24, 1991

*Freddie Stowers

Army/WWI

Presented posthumously to the only Black soldier of WWI to receive Medal.

May 23, 1994

*Gary I. Gordon

Army/SOMALIA

 Presented posthumously by President Clinton to the widows of the two Army Rangers killed in Somalia.  The LAST MOH action.

May 24, 1994

*Randall D. Shughart

Army/SOMALIA

Jan 13, 1997

Vernon J. Baker

Army/WWII

 After an extensive review of military awards to Black soldiers during World War II, these seven soldiers' awards were upgraded to Medals of Honor which were presented posthumously by President Clinton to the families of 6 of them, and personally to Mr. Vernon J. Baker.

Jan 13, 1997

*Edward A. Carter, Jr.

Army/WWII

Jan 13, 1997

*John R. Fox

Army/WWII

Jan 13, 1997

*Willy F. James, Jr.

Army/WWII

Jan 13, 1997

*Ruben Rivers

Army/WWII
Jan 13, 1997

*Charles L. Thomas

Army/WWII

Jan13, 1997

*George Watson

Army/WWII

Jan 20, 1998

James L. Day

USMC/WWII

 Presented by President Clinton for heroism during World War II.

July 10, 1998

Robert R. Ingram

Navy/VIETNAM

Presented by President Clinton for heroism in Vietnam.
Feb 8, 2000 Alfred Rascon Army/VIETNAM Presented by President Clinton for heroism in Vietnam.
Jun 21, 2000 Awards to 22 Japanese-Americans for World War II heroism.  (Most of these were heroes from the 442d Regimental Combat Team that was the most highly decorated unit of World War II, but which had only previously received ONE Medal of Honor, the posthumous presentation in 1946 to Sadao Munemori.)  As a result, the following 22 names were added to the Honor Roll:  (*Posthumous Award)
Rudolph B. Davila Barney F. Hajiro *Mikio Hasemoto
*Joe Hayashi Shizuya Hayashi Daniel K. Inouye
Yeiki Kobashigawa *Robert T. Kuroda *Kaoru Moto
*Kiyoshi K. Muranga *Masato Nakae *Shinyei Nakamine
*William K. Nakamura *Joe M. Nishimoto *Allan M. Ohata
*James Okubo Yukio Okutsu *Frank H. Ono
*Kazuo Otani George T. Sakato *Ted T. Tanmouye
*Francis B. Wai
Dec 8, 2000 William Pitsenbarger

Air Force/Vietnam

 Presented posthumously to his father at Wright-Patterson AFB for heroism in Vietnam.
Jan 16, 2001 Andrew Jackson Smith

Army/Civil War

 Presented posthumously at the White House to their surviving family members by President William Clinton.
Theodore Roosevelt

Army/Spanish American War
Jul 16, 2001 Ed Freeman

Army/Vietnam

 Presented at the White House by President George W. Bush
May 1, 2002 Ben Louis Salomon Army/WWII Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush
Jon Swanson Army/Vietnam
July 8, 2002 Humbert Roque Versace

Army/Vietnam

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush
April 4, 2005 Paul Ray Smith

Army/Iraq

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush
Sep 23, 2005 Tibor Rubin

Army/Korean War

 Presented belatedly at the White House by President George W. Bush
Jan 11, 2005 Dunham, Jason L.

USMC/Iraq

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Feb 28, 2007 Crandall, Bruce P.

Army/Vietnam

 Presented belatedly at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Oct 22, 2007 Murphy, Michael P.

Navy/Afghanistan

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Mar 3, 2008 Woodrow Wilson Keeble

Army/Korea

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Apr 8, 2008 Monsoor, Michael A.

Navy/Iraq

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush.
June 2, 2008 McGinnis, Ross A..

Army/Iraq

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Sep 17, 2009 Monti, Jared C.

Army/Afghanistan

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President Barack Obama.
Sep 19, 2010 Etchberger, Richard L.

Air Force/Vietnam

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President Barack Obama.
Oct 6, 2010 Miller, Robert James

Army/Afghanistan

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President Barack Obama.
Nov 16, 2010 Giunta, Salvatore

Army/Afghanistan

 Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama. Salvatore Giunta is the first LIVING Recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions since the Vietnam War.
May 2, 2011 Anthony Kaho'ohanohano
Henry Svehla

Army/Korea

Presented posthumously at the White House by President Barack Obama.
July 12, 2011 Petry, Leroy A.

Army/Afghanistan

 Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama. 
Sep 11, 2011 Meyer, Dakota L.

USMC/Afghanistan

 Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama. 
Mar 16, 2012 Sabo, Leslie H., Jr.

Army/Vietnam

 Presented posthumously at the White House by President Barack Obama. 
Feb 11, 2013 Romesha, Clinton L.

Army/Afghanistan

Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
Apr 11, 2013 Kapaun, Emil J.

Army/Korea

Presented Posthumously at the White House by President Barack Obama
Aug 26, 2013 Carter, Ty Michael

Army/Afghanistan

Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
Oct 15, 2013 Swenson, William D.

Army/Afghanistan

Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
Mar 18, 2014 Follow a review of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War Distinguished Service Crosses, on March 18, 2014 President Barack Obama awarded Medals of Honor to the following 24 individuals: (*Posthumous Award)
World War II Korea Vietnam
*Pedro Cano
*Joe Gandara
*Salvador J. Lara
*William F. Leonard
*Manuel V. Mendoza
*Alfred B. Nietzel
*Donald K. Schwab		 *Joe R. Baldonado
*Victor H. Espinoza
*Eduardo Gomez
*Leonard Kravitz
*Juan E. Negron
*Mike C. Pena
*Demensio Rivera
*Miguel A. Vera
*Jack Weinstein		 *Leonard L. Alvarado
*Felix M. Conde-Falcon
*Ardie Ray Copas
*Jesus S. Duran
Santiago J. Erevia
*Candelario Garcia
Melvin Morris
Jose Rodella
May 13, 2014 White, Kyle J..

Army/Afghanistan

Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
Jun 19, 2014 Carpenter, William Kyle

USMC/Afghanistan

 Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
July 21, 2014 Pitts, Ryan M.

USMC/Afghanistan

 Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
Sep 15, 2014 Adkins, Bennie G.
*Sloat, Donald Paul

USA/RVN

 Presented at the White House by President Barack Obama
  Cushing, Alonzo

USA/Civil War

 Award Approved but Presentation is delayed

.

When you have insured that your data is CURRENT, you can begin to further analyze the numbers.  While it is correct that the total number of Medals of Honor awarded to date is: 3,510:

bn_red.gif (971 bytes)   Click on the red button to open our page on the DOUBLE AWARDEES of the Medal of Honor.  It will open in a separate window which you can close after reading, to return to this page.

These numbers DO NOT include the great pioneer of aviation, William "BILLY" Mitchell.  While the actual status of his award is often debated among historians, the fact remains that the medal ordered struck and presented (posthumously) to  Mitchell, WAS NOT the Medal of Honor but a separate award.  Occasionally you may find Medal of Honor statistics that differ from others by ONE.  Chances are, if the information is current and correct, the statistician has included Billy Mitchell's award.

Understanding differing data based on branch of service:

3,510 Individual Medals have been awarded to 3,491 individuals for 3,505 separate acts of heroism.  The diagram below explains the disposition based on the Medal design, and not necessarily the branch of service of the individual recipient.

2449
Army Medals Awarded
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*2380 awards to 2375 Soldiers
     (4 Soldiers were Double Recipients)
*  4 awards to Army Air Service (WWI)
*38 awards to Army Air Corps (WWII)
*  4 awards to Air Force (Korean War)
*  6 awards to civilians
*  6 awards to Marines
     (5 of these were double awards)
*  9 Awards to Unknown Soldiers

1047
Navy Medals Awarded
 moh_sm_1n.gif (2781 bytes)moh_sm_5n.gif (2616 bytes)moh_sm_6n.gif (2841 bytes)

*745 awards to 737 Sailors
     (8 Sailors were Double Recipients)
*304 awards to 297 Marines***
     (2 Marines were double recipients)
       (5 Marines also received Army MOH)
*  1 Coast Guard Award
*  2 awards to civilians

***One WWI Marine received ONLY the Army award bringing the total number of awards to Marines to 297. 

14
Air Force Medals
Awarded
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All for Vietnam Service

 

 

 

 

When we subtract the instances in World War I when 5 Marines received both an Army award and Navy award for the same action from the 3,506 actual awards, we find that there have been 3,501 separate and individual actions for which the Medal has been awarded.  The table below details each of these actions, and represents the branch of service of each hero, regardless of which design of the Medal they received.

Total

Army

Navy

USMC

Coast
Guard

Air
Force

 Civilian

NOTES:

*Tom Custer received 2 MOHs for two SEPARATE actions.
**2 Civilians received Army Medals and 2 Civilians received Navy Medals.

Civil War

1523

1197*

305

17

 - - 4**

N/C 1865-1870

13

1

12

 - - -

Indian Wars

426

422*

-

 - - - 4**

*Includes 2 men who had two SEPARATE MOH actions..
**4 Civilian scouts received Army Awards.

Korea 1871

15

-

9

6

 - - -

  N/C 1871-1899

106

-

104**

2

 - - -

**Navy totals include 3 sailors who received TWO awards for separate actions

Spanish/American

110

31

64

15

 - - -

Samoa

4

 -

1

3

 - - -

Philippines

80

69

5

6

 - - -

China

59

4

22

33

 - - -

  N/C 1901-1910

49

 1

46*

2

 - - -

*Navy totals includes one sailor who received TWO awards for separate actions.

Philippines 1911

6

1

5

 - - - -

Mexican Campaign

56

1

46

9

 - - -

Haiti 1915

6

 - -

6

 - - -

.

  N/C 1915-1916

8

 -

8

 - - - -

Dominican Rep.

3

 - -

3

 - - -

World War I

119

90#

21

8#

 - - - #During World War I EIGHT Marines received Medals of Honor.  Five of them received BOTH the ARMY and NAVY MOH for the same action.  One of them received ONLY the ARMY award.  The Army numbers here DO NOT reflect any of these awards.

Haiti 1919-1920

2

 - -

2

 - - -

Nicaragua

2

 - -

2

 - - -

  N/C 1920-1940

17

1

15

1

 - - -

World War II

472

332

57

82

1

 - -

Korea

146

97

7

42

 -

#

 - #FOUR members of the new US AIR FORCE received Medals of Honor in Korea, however all 4 were presented the ARMY Medal of Honor.

Vietnam

258

172

15

57

 -

14

 -

Somalia

2

2

 - - - - -

War on Terror

 16 11 2 3        

Unknowns

9

 9 - - - - -

TOTALS

3505

2439

745

299

1

14

 8
N/C indicates interim periods during which non-combat awards were received.

Included in the above 3,505 separate actions are 14 instances when one man performed two separate actions meriting the award of the Medal of Honor (these 14 plus the 5 WWI Marines comprise the 19 Double Awardees).  When these 14 "Second Action Awards" are subtracted from the 3,505 total actions, we find that awards have been presented to a total of 3,491 individuals (including one woman and 7 other civilians).  They break down by branch of service as follows:

Total

   Army Navy Marines Coast
Guard		 Air
Force		 Civilians

3,505

 Total Medal of Honor Actions 2438 745 299 1 14 8

 -  14

 Men who received 2 for Separate Acts 4 8 2 - - -

3,491

 Total Number of Recipients 2433 737 297 1 14 8

 

 

[History of the Medal of Honor]  [The First Presentation]
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