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The Purple Heart: America’s Oldest Decoration Still Awarded Today

Fox enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1950 and served for 43 years until mandatory retirement at age 62, holding ranks from private to colonel.

August 7 may not be a significant day to you, but over 230 years ago, General George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit, which we know today as the Purple Heart. This was August 7, 1782, and the medal is still awarded today!

What's the Purple Heart?

While the Fidelity Medallion was created in 1780 by the Continental Congress and thus preceded the Purple Heart, it was only awarded to three soldiers in that year and was never again bestowed. For this reason, the Badge of Military Merit and later the Purple Heart is considered to be the first U.S. military decoration.

Before 1782, military awards throughout different countries were almost exclusively given to officers to had achieved significant victories in battle. The Badge of Military Merit was one of the first awards in military history that could be awarded to enlisted soldiers or noncommissioned officers for “unusual gallantry in battle” as well as “extraordinary fidelity and essential service,” in Washington’s words.

Three Continental Army noncommissioned officers—Sergeant Daniel Bissell, Sergeant William Brown, and Sergeant Elijah Churchill—received the Badge of Military Merit for spying and acquiring intelligence, gallantry during assaults on the British positions at Yorktown, and heroism during two raids against British fortifications on Long Island respectively. Then for 150 years, the Badge of Military Merit fell into oblivion and was not awarded.

The Fidelity Medallion

The Badge of Military Merit

The Purple Heart

The New Version of the Badge of Military Merit

In 1932, General Douglas MacArthur spearheaded an effort to revive and rename the award in time for the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth. Working with the Washington Commission of Fine Arts and Elizabeth Will, a heraldry specialist in the Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General, MacArthur designed the award to commemorate bravery—its original goals—as well as recognition of soldiers with wounds.

In MacArthur’s estimation, a soldier had to demonstrate bravery if he received wounds from the enemy. In July 1932, MacArthur would receive the first Purple Heart—Purple Heart No. 1—as Arabic numerals were impressed on the edge of all pre-World War II Purple Hearts.

Originally, the award was only for wounds, as MacArthur saw the award as recognizing superior service of the living, the Purple Heart was modified on April 28, 1942 to allow posthumous award due to the significant loss of life. Several months later on September 4, 1942, the War Department designated the Purple Heart exclusively for wounds or deaths in combat.

It was not until during World War II in 1944 that the qualifications for receiving a Purple Heart were changed to what we know it for today: an award that is given to recognize those wounded or killed in combat. Since 1944, the military has modified the award some, clarifying what constituted a combat wound or death, including service members wounded in acts of terrorism as well as soldiers injured in friendly fire.

In the 1950s, there was controversy regarding awarding the Purple Heart for frostbite. While soldiers and sailors were not given the medal for that condition, aviators did award the Purple Heart for frostbite. This was later changed, removing frostbite as an eligible injury. In 1989, a similar controversy arose when a soldier suffered heat stroke during an invasion in Panama and received the Purple Heart. Due to the outcry from veterans, heat stroke was removed as an eligible injury.

On February 23, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed an executive order that allowed the Purple Heart to be issued for injuries due to acts of terrorism. Similarly, in 1996, regulations were changed to allow prisoners of war to receive the Purple Heart.

Finally, in 2008, military members can receive the Purple Heart if they have a mild traumatic brain injury due to an IED, for example, if minimum medical treatment was required. PTSD, however, is not a condition for receiving the award, as a Pentagon panel decided that it is a secondary effect of enemy action that wounds a soldier.

What is unique about the Purple Heart is that it is an entitlement and does not depend upon the recommendation of a superior officer. Any service member that meets basic criteria—generally a wound that occurred during hostilities and that required treatment documented by a medical officer—will receive the Purple Heart. Since the Purple Heart’s reestablishment in 1932, over 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded to airmen, Marines, sailors, and soldiers.

While individual service members can apply for the award, it is more common for command superiors to submit an awards package that demonstrates that a particular service member has met the criteria for the award. Even so, the process can differ by branch and theater of operations.

Awards By War

In the years that followed between 1932 and the first issue of the new award to MacArthur, tens of thousands of World War I veterans received the Purple Heart retroactively for actions during World War I.

The majority of the awards were given for actions during World War II with over one million service members receiving the Purple Heart during the Second World War. Also a Medal of Honor recipient, Audie Murphy was likely the most famous recipient of the Purple Heart during World War II and was awarded three Purple Hearts.

Over 100,000 Purple Hearts were awarded to service members wounded or killed in action in the Korean War that lasted between 1950 to 1953, while over 350,000 Purple Hearts were awarded during the Vietnam War.

Finally, over 30,000 Purple Hearts have been awarded to soldiers for wounds and deaths since 2001.

Famous Recipients of the Purple Heart

The only U.S. president to receive the honor of the Purple Heart was John F. Kennedy who was wounded in action on August 2, 1944, when the patrol torpedo boat under his command—PT-109—was divided in half and sunk by a Japanese destroyer near the Solomon Islands. Many newspapers covered his injuries, which helped propel him to success in politics in Massachusetts after the war.

While civilians are no longer eligible for the Purple Heart, war correspondent Ernie Pyle is an exception. Pyle wrote for the Scripps Howard news service, was killed in April 1945, and was awarded the Purple Heart in April 1983.

Military records suggest that General Robert T. Frederick and Colonel David H. Hackworth have been the soldiers who have received the most awards of the Purple Heart, acquiring an astounding eight awards of the decoration.

General Frederick received all of his awards during World War II, including three Purple Hearts awarded for actions on June 4, 1944 for wounds on three separate occasions by bullets that hit his thighs and right air. He received his eighth and last Purple Heart while leading a parachute assault during Operation Dragoon near Saint-Tropez, France.

Army Lieutenant Annie G. Fox was the first woman to receive a Purple Heart for her actions during Pearl Harbor, remaining calm throughout the attack and successfully directing hospital staff to care for the wounded.

Cordelia “Betty” Cook was the first woman to receive both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. While working as a combat nurse at a field hospital on the Italian front, Cook sustained shrapnel wounds in 1943 but continued to work despite her injuries. She received both awards for her actions.

Some people receive their awards many years after being wounded, including Calvin Pearl Titus, who was wounded on August 15, 1900 in China, but did not receive his Purple Heart until February 17, 1955. He was seventy-six years old when he was awarded the Purple Heart, having retired from the Army in October 1930 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Other famous recipients include Marine legend Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, John Kerry, Colin Powell, John McCain, and even animals like Sergeant Stubby the dog and Sergeant Reckless the horse.

Like the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart is a military decoration recognized by civilians and military members alike. We could never begin to even touch on all the individuals and their actions that merited the Purple Heart due to the enormous number of recipients, but it’s important to honor those that we do know.

The next time you see a veteran with a hat that indicates he or she received a Purple Heart, take the time to stop and ask him or her about his or her story. It’s probably pretty amazing.

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Guest Contributor: Rachel Basinger is a former history teacher turned freelance writer and editor. She loves studying military history, especially the World Wars, and of course military medals. She has authored three history books for young adults and transcribed interviews of World War II veterans. In her free time, Rachel is a voracious reader and is a runner who completed her first half marathon in May 2019.

Sergeant Stubby and Sergeant Reckless, Decorated Dog and Horse

Animals have always been a crucial part of the war effort, as humans have enlisted them to help fight their wars since prehistoric times.

Animals have always been a crucial part of the war effort, as humans have enlisted them to help fight their wars since prehistoric times. Horses, elephants and camels have in the past hauled men and supplies; pigeons carried messages and done photographic espionage. Even rats and pigs have been used in warfare and other combat related activities. But did you know that some of them received medals?

Sergeant Stubby

Born in 1916, Sargent Stubby served for 18 months and participated in seventeen battles on the Western Front. During World War I, this dog was the official mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment and was assigned to the 26th (Yankee) Division. He was so popular that his actions were well-documented in contemporary American newspapers.

Stubby was a dog of “uncertain breed“, most likely a Bull Terrier or Boston Terrier. Ann Bausum wrote that “The brindle-patterned pup probably owed at least some of his parentage to the evolving family of Boston Terriers, a breed so new that even its name was in flux: Boston Round Heads, American Bull Terriers, and Boston Bull Terriers.”

Stubby’s story is unique. As members of the 102nd Infantry were training in the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut in July 1917, Stubby was found wandering the grounds and one soldier, Corporal Robert Conroy, developed a fondness for him. Conroy got so attached that he hid Stubby on board the troop ship, who remained undetected under his overcoat until they got off the ship in France. Luckily for everyone who was to come into contact with him n the future, the commanding officer allowed the dog to stay on board.

Stubby entered combat on February 5, 1918, at Chemin des Dames, north of Soissons in France. Serving with the 102nd Infantry Regiment in the trenches, Stubby participated in four offensives and 17 battles. He was wounded in the foreleg by the retreating Germans throwing hand grenades during a raid to take Seicheprey in April 1918, and sent to the rear for convalescence.

He was also injured by mustard gas, but after he recovered he returned with a specially designed gas mask to protect him. He soon learned to warn his unit of poison gas attacks and became very adept at letting his unit know when to duck for cover, as he could hear the whine of incoming artillery shells before humans. Stubby also helped locate wounded soldiers in no man’s land and was solely responsible for capturing a German spy in the Argonne, reason he was nominated for the rank of sergeant.

After Château-Thierry was retaken by the US, the women of the town made Stubby a chamois coat on which were pinned his many medals.

At the end of the war, Robert Conroy smuggled Stubby home where he became a celebrity and marched in, and normally led, many parades across the country. He even met Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren G. Harding, was presented a gold medal from the Humane Education Society, attended Georgetown University Law Center with Conroy and became the Georgetown Hoyas‘ team mascot.

Stubby died in his sleep in 1926. His skin was mounted on a plaster cast and presented to the Smithsonian in 1956. Stubby’s obituary in the New York Times was half a page, much longer than those of many notable people of the time. The descendants of Robert Conroy (Stubby’s inseparable companion) dedicated a life-size bronze statue of Stubby named “Stubby Salutes”, by Susan Bahary, in the Connecticut Trees of Honor Memorial at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Middletown, Connecticut in May 2018.

Sergeant Reckless

Reckless was a mare of Mongolian horse breeding, chestnut colored with a blaze and three white stockings, born in 1948 and purchased by members of the United States Marine Corps in October 1952 out of a race horse dam at the Seoul racetrack. She was originally named “Ah Chim Hai”, which translates to “Morning Flame“. She was small, standing only 56 inches (142 cm) and weighing 900 pounds (410 kg).

In October 1952, Lieutenant Eric Pedersen had received permission to purchase a horse for his platoon, a pack animal capable of carrying up to nine of the heavy 24-pound shells needed to supply the recoilless rifles used by his unit. Pedersen had his wife ship a pack saddle from their home in California so Reckless could better fulfill her primary role as a pack animal.

She was trained to be a pack horse for the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Company, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and was known for her willingness to eat nearly anything including scrambled eggs, beer, Coca-Cola and, once, about $30 worth of poker chips.

She quickly became part of the unit and was allowed to roam freely through camp. She served in numerous combat actions during the Korean War, carrying supplies and ammunition. She often traveled to deliver supplies to the troops on her own, without benefit of a handler as she could learn each supply route after only a couple of trips. In a single day in late March 1953, during the Battle for Outpost Vegas, she made 51 solo trips to resupply multiple front line units.

The Marines, especially Platoon Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Latham, taught Reckless battlefield survival skills such as how not to become entangled in barbed wire and to lie down when under fire. She also learned to run for a bunker upon hearing the cry, “incoming!”.

When not on the front lines, Reckless was particularly useful for stringing telephone wire. Carrying reels of wire on her pack that were played out as she walked, she could string as much wire as twelve men on foot. She became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing when the 5th moved from Camp Casey to Inchon.

Reckless was wounded in combat twice, given the battlefield rank of corporal in 1953. Randolph M. Pate, then the commander of the 1st Marine Division, gave Reckless a battlefield promotion from corporal to sergeant in a formal ceremony, complete with reviewing stand, on April 10, 1954, several months after the war ended. Following the war was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and a red and gold blanket with insignia as well as other military honors.

I was surprised at her beauty and intelligence, and believe it or not, her esprit de corps. Like any other Marine, she was enjoying a bottle of beer with her comrades. She was constantly the center of attraction and was fully aware of her importance. If she failed to receive the attention she felt her due, she would deliberately walk into a group of Marines and, in effect, enter the conversation. It was obvious the Marines loved her.

—Lieutenant General Randolph McC. Pate

Prior to her departure for America, a ceremony was held during half time of a football game between the Marine Corps and Army. Reckless left Korea for Japan aboard a 1st Marine Aircraft Wing transport plane and then sailed from Yokohama on October 22 aboard the SS Pacific Transport, due in San Francisco on November 5, 1954. Reckless was kept by Pedersen’s family for a brief time before moving to a more permanent home with the 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. She was well cared for and treated as a VIP during her time at Camp Pendleton. The Marine Corps was also careful not to allow her to be exploited by commercial interests.

Reckless developed arthritis in her back as she aged and injured herself on May 13, 1968, by falling into a barbed wire fence. She died under sedation while her wounds were being treated. In 1997, Reckless was listed by LIFE magazine as one of America’s 100 all-time heroes.

Wesley Fox: The Marine Who Worked His Way Up From Private to Colonel

Not many individuals have the ability to say that they held almost every rank—both enlisted and officer—in a particular branch in the military, but Wesley Fox could until his death in 2017. Fox enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1950 and served for 43 years until mandatory retirement at age 62, holding every rank from private to colonel.

Who Was Wesley Fox?

Born on September 30, 1931 in rural northern Virginia near Herdon, Virginia, Fox watched his older cousins leave to fight in World War II and planned to join the military. In 1950 at the start of the Korean War, Fox enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Fox began as a private and deployed to Korea in January 1951. In March 1951, he was promoted to corporal. Wounded in action on September 8, 1951, Fox would receive the Bronze Star with Combat “V” while hospitalized at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Then, in the following 16 years, Fox worked through all of the enlisted ranks all the way up to first sergeant, which he reached in 1966.

While some individuals would work their way through the enlisted ranks until they could retire, Fox wanted to continue his Marine Corps career and decided to start all over as an officer. He was commissioned as a lowly second lieutenant in 1966 and made his way up to colonel before his retirement in 1993.

Wesley Fox and the Marine Corps

Although the fact that Fox held almost every single rank in the Marine Corps is impressive, he also has another distinction: he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Serving in his second war in Vietnam, Fox was the first lieutenant of Alpha Company, part of the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines (1/9), known as the “Walking Dead” due to the extensive casualties the battalion suffered.

When Fox led Alpha Company of the “Walking Dead” battalion, he was serving his second tour of duty in the Vietnam War during Operation Dewey Canyon. His company would suffer 75 percent casualties during the course of the three-month operation, including Fox himself.

On February 22, 1969, which Fox described as a rainy, miserable, and cloudy day, Alpha Company came under intense gunfire from the North Vietnamese in the jungle of the northern A Shau Valley. Although Fox was supposed to have 240 men in his rifle company, he had fewer than 90 Marines left due to a variety of skirmishes over several weeks.

Fox became aware that that the remaining men in the company wouldn’t be able to move the wounded and retreat, so he decided to engage the much larger and well-concealed group of North Vietnamese Army regulars. Fox described in an interview with the Veterans History Project that he looked his Marines in the eyeballs and said, “This is what we do.”

The Legion of Merit

The Legion of Merit is a military award of the United States Armed Forces for exceptionally meritorious conduct and outstanding services.

The Bronze Star Medal

The Bronze Star Medal (also known as Bronze Star) is a United States decoration awarded for heroic achievement or service in a combat zone.

The Purple Heart

The Purple Heart is a military decoration from the United States awarded to those wounded or killed while serving with the U.S. military.

Even though some of the Marines may not have wanted to assault a larger force, they did because their commander had wanted them to. As Fox noted, “[U]ntil somebody told ‘em something clearly, differently, a Marine isn’t going to lose his focus. I had some great Marines.”

Even though Fox was wounded from severe injuries to his shoulder due to shrapnel, he refused medical attention and successfully directed the attack against the North Vietnamese. At one point, Fox even took out an NVA sniper that had killed the Marine in front of him by grabbing the dead man’s gun and taking out the sniper.

When the clouds parted in the afternoon, Fox coordinated air support in order to annihilate a machine-gun nest that was blocking the U.S. advance. This action prompted the group of NVA regulars to begin its retreat. Fox continued to refuse immediate medical treatment for his injuries in order to supervise the safe medical evacuation of the wounded and deceased Marines.

Later, Fox said that 11 of his Marines died on February 22, but to his men’s credit, he counted 105 enemy dead. In light of Fox’s exceptional leadership of his Marines despite his own wounds, President Richard Nixon presented the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest award for military heroism and valor, to Fox and six other soldiers in a group ceremony at the White House on March 2, 1971. By the time Fox received the medal, he had risen to the rank of captain.

Wesley Fox's Medal of Honor

American Medals and Awards: The Medal of Honor (Army Version)

The U.S. Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commanding officer of Company A, in action against the enemy in the northern A Shau Valley. Capt. (then 1st Lt.) Fox’s company came under intense fire from a large well-concealed enemy force. Capt. Fox maneuvered to a position from which he could assess the situation and confer with his platoon leaders. As they departed to execute the plan he had devised, the enemy attacked and Capt. Fox was wounded along with all of the other members of the command group, except the executive officer.

Capt. Fox continued to direct the activity of his company. Advancing through heavy enemy fire, he personally neutralized one enemy position and calmly ordered an assault against the hostile emplacements. He then moved through the hazardous area, coordinating aircraft support with the activities of his men. When his executive officer was mortally wounded, Capt. Fox reorganized the company and directed the fire of his men as they hurled grenades against the enemy and drove the hostile forces into retreat. Wounded again in the final assault, Capt. Fox refused medical attention, established a defensive posture and supervised the preparation of casualties for medical evacuation.

His indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger inspired his Marines to such aggressive action that they overcame all enemy resistance and destroyed a large bunker complex. Capt. Fox’s heroic actions reflect great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and uphold the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Fox would continue to serve in the Marine Corps for another 22 years after receiving the Medal of Honor. His final active-duty assignment was serving as the commanding officer of Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia. After he hit the mandatory retirement age of 62 in 1993, Fox spent eight years as a deputy commandant of cadets for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets in Blacksburg, Virginia.

In the years following his retirement, he continued to speak about his time in the military to students and civic leaders. Marine Corps life was the perfect fit for Fox, who told the Veterans History Project that he did not have any regrets about becoming a Marine.

To make his point, Fox noted that during his first four years as a Marine, he didn’t have any civilian clothes. He did everything in a Marine uniform. As Fox remembered, “I’d go home on leave, working in the hay fields or whatever, I wore my Marine utilities. Go in town to see the movies, I wore Marine dress.”

Unlike others who loathe to talk about receiving the Medal of Honor, Fox said that he was proud to wear the Medal of Honor: “I’m pleased and proud to wear it for the Marine Corps and for what my Marines did on that particular fight.” Even so, he felt that others deserved the award, and he feels some emptiness that they did not also receive the award.

In addition to receiving the Medal of Honor, Fox also received two awards of the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star with Combat V, four awards of the Purple Heart, the Armed Forces Honor Medal and 1st class from South Vietnam among numerous other commendations. After his service in Vietnam, Fox’s awards and decorations filled 7 rows on his uniform.

Once Fox retired from the Marine Corps and serving as a deputy commandant for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, Fox wrote three books, Marine Rifleman (2002), his personal memoir; Courage and Fear: A Primer (2007); and Six Essential Elements of Leadership (2011).

When Fox died on November 24, 2017, the Marine Corps issued an announcement calling Fox a “legend” and a “true Marine’s Marine.” Their estimation is correct, as Fox embodied all of the values of the Corps from serving as almost every rank in the Marine Corps to receiving the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions in Vietnam.

Sources

Small-town Nurse Ellen Ainsworth Died Saving Patients in World War II

Although her name is unrecognizable to many, Ellen Ainsworth was one of the first four women in the Army to receive the Silver Star.

Although her name is unrecognizable to most Americans, Ellen Ainsworth was one of the first four women in the Army to receive the Silver Star as well as being the only woman from Wisconsin serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II to die as a direct result of enemy fire.

Who Was Ellen Ainsworth?

Born on March 9, 1919, Ainsworth had an inauspicious beginning, growing up in a small farming community of Wisconsin. She was the youngest of three siblings and attended nursing school at Eitel Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis, graduating in 1941. Even though she could have become a nurse at a private hospital in the Twin Cities, Ainsworth signed up for the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in March 1942.

Although nurses were highly encouraged to join the armed forces, Ainsworth also had a longing to see and experience the world, which is exactly what she ended up doing in her short life of 24 years. She was sent first to Morocco, then to Tunisia, and then to Salerno, Italy in September 1943. Several months later, Ainsworth was sent to Anzio, Italy where the Allies—Americans and British—had made a surprise landing behind German lines, but her travels would stop there.

Anzio was a battle that was only expected to take a couple weeks ended up taking several months, and Anzio would see some of the most savage fighting of World War II. Over the four-month period, the nurses and medical personnel at Anzio would care for more than 33,000, including 10,800 who had suffered battle wounds.

Ellen Ainsworth and the U.S. Army Nurse Corps

Of the sixteen women in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps were killed directly from enemy fire during World War II, six of them were killed at Anzio. Ellen Ainsworth was one of those six.

Assigned to the 56th Evacuation Hospital, which they called “a Half Acre of Hell,” Ainsworth cared for the wounded men at Anzio for only a few short weeks from late January until her eventual death on February 16, 1944. But she was able to make such an impact in that short time!

On February 12, 1944, the nurses of the 56th Evacuation Hospital rushed patients to nearby bunkers during a massive artillery bombardment. Ainsworth realized that some medical personnel needed to remain behind at the hospital tent to take care of the wounded, so she chose to stay. A German artillery round landed just outside the tent, and a piece of shrapnel penetrated Ainsworth’s chest close to her lungs. Even though she was wounded, Ainsworth continued to treat her patients.

Ainsworth was eventually evacuated, but her condition worsened. Slowly suffocating from internal wounds, Ainsworth died on February 16, 1944. She was just 24 years old. On March 9, which would have been Ainsworth’s 25th birthday, her family back in Wisconsin instead received a telegram informing them that Ainsworth had died.

Ellen Ainsworth's Medals

Due to her actions of bravery, including evacuating 42 patients to safety in complete disregard of the danger with three other nurses, Ainsworth and the other women became the first women in the Army to receive the Silver Star for their bravery (the third highest award for bravery after the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross/Navy Cross/Air Force Cross/Coast Guard Cross). Ainsworth would also posthumously receive the Purple Heart and Red Cross Bronze medals, a rare accomplishment for a nurse in World War II. She is also remembered with a portrait in the Pentagon, and the post office in her hometown of Glenwood City, Wisconsin was renamed in her honor in 2016.

The Silver Star Medal (USA)

Ellen Ainsworth’s Silver Star Citation

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant Ellen G. Ainsworth (ASN: N-732770), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with the 56th Evacuation Hospital, in action at Anzio, Italy, on 10 February 1944. Second Lieutenant Ainsworth was on duty in a hospital ward, while the area was being subjected to heavy enemy artillery shelling. One shell dropped within a few feet of the ward, its fragments piercing the tent in numerous places. Despite the extreme danger, she calmly directed the placing of (42) surgical patients on the ground to lessen the danger of further injury. By her disregard for her own safety and her calm assurance, she instilled confidence in her assistants and her patients, thereby preventing serious panic and injury. Second Lieutenant Ainsworth’s gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for her own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon herself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Because her mother was ill when Ainsworth’s family received the news that she had been killed, her family chose to have her buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, Italy. Ainsworth is one of nearly 7,900 Americans buried at the cemetery.

The Legacy of Ellen Ainsworth

Although Ainsworth only lived for 24 years, family and friends still remember her fondly, recalling how great of a sense of humor that she had. When she was evacuated due to the shrapnel, she made a cheeky comment to her fellow nurses that was something like, “Nothing these Krauts can do to scare at this point.”

Her fellow nurses knew her as an outgoing, fun-loving individual, and her friends and family back home knew her as a caring girl who loved to sing (and had a beautiful voice!). These two elements came together for Christmas 1943 when Ainsworth wanted to bring some cheer to the troops in Italy, so she organized a group of people to sing Christmas carols over the PA system.

Her fellow nurses remembered her not only as the life of the party but also someone to tried to make every situation better. Even so, Ainsworth was immensely affected by the gruesomeness all around her.

Ainsworth’s sister Lyda wrote a speech in the 1970s that she presented at the dedication of a health clinic to Ainsworth and spoke of a letter she received from her sister Ellen. That letter was tear-stained, as Ellen wrote about the suffering of “her boys.” She wished that she could do more to protect them, ease and comfort their pain, or halt their deaths, but there was so little she could do.

Ainsworth was not one to shirk duty, as is evident from her actions in choosing to stay with the wounded and risk death herself. Ainsworth was willing to pay the ultimate price to take care of “her boys,” and she did. But although her family and friends would greatly mourn her death, they took comfort in the fact that Ainsworth lived a full life for the short time she lived.

John McCain: A Lifetime of Service to America

Born on August 29, 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Station in the Panama Canal Zone when it was a U.S. territory, John McCain grew up in a family that had multiple examples of service to America. Both his father and grandfather were distinguished Navy Admirals, and McCain would follow in their footsteps as well as participating in politics in his later life.

Admired on both the right and the left, John McCain dedicated his life to serving the American people and was willing to endure great pain and suffering to fulfill that duty.

Who Was John McCain?

As a military brat, McCain moved frequently as a child and attended 20 different schools throughout his childhood. He attended the Naval Academy, graduating near the bottom of his class in 1958 and became a Naval aviator for the 22 years, including serving in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Although his father and grandfather had always been well-known in the military, McCain began to be recognized for his own service after his lengthy imprisonment in Vietnam. McCain’s 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam on October 26, 1967 went terribly wrong when a missile struck his plane, forcing McCain to eject. In the process, he was knocked unconscious, broke both his arms and his leg, and taken prisoner.

McCain was a prisoner of war in the camp now known as “Hanoi Hilton”, a prison used by the French colonists in French Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. He did not receive the medical treatment that he desperately needed and endured years of torture, spending much of his time in solitary confinement. The friendship of his fellow POWs like Air Force Majors George “Bud” Day and Norris Overly and his Christian faith kept him going during this time.

In late June, as McCain’s father was preparing to assume command of the U.S. forces in the Pacific, the North Vietnamese gave McCain the opportunity to accept an early release, which McCain denied. It was good that he did because the North Vietnamese had hoped to demoralize the American people and other POWs that POWs with privileged parents like McCain could escape, but others could not.

Since POWs were released based on their date of capture, McCain was finally released on March 14, 1973. He continued his service in the Navy once he returned home, including his last duty assignment of serving as naval liaison to the United States Senate. McCain retired from the Navy on April 1, 1981, with the rank of captain.

John McCain and the House of Representatives

Soon thereafter McCain was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a representative from Arizona in 1982 and served for two terms. Four years later, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1986, taking the seat formerly held by Republican Barry Goldwater. Throughout his career in the U.S. Senate, McCain served as the Chairman of the Senate Committees on Indian Affairs, Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the Armed Services.

McCain had media reputation of being a “maverick” due to his willingness to vote differently than his party on particular issues, including his stances on gun control and gay/lesbian issues. He is most well-known for the campaign finance reform bill of 2002—the McCain-Feingold Act.

In 2000, McCain attempted to run for president, but lost the primary to George W. Bush of Texas, who later became the 43rd president. In 2008, McCain again ran for president and was the Republican Party’s nominee for president and chose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, losing the election to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Even though he lost the presidency, McCain continued to serve in the Senate for 10 years after the presidential election in 2008 until his death in 2018, becoming one of America’s longest-serving politicians.

In his personal life, McCain met and married Carol Shepp in 1965 while stationed at Meridian Naval Air Station, adopting her two sons from a previous marriage, Doug and Andy. A daughter Sidney was born in 1966. In the late 1970s, McCain’s marriage failed, and their divorce was final in April 1980.

The next month, McCain married Cindy Hensley whom he had met in 1979 in Hawaii. They would have four children together: daughter Meghan who was born in 1984, John Sidney “Jack” McCain IV who was born in 1985, James Hensley McCain who was born in 1988, and Bridget who was adopted in 1991.

McCain also coauthored a variety of books: Faith of My Fathers (1999), Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir (2002), Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (2004), Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them (2007), Thirteen Soldiers: A Personal History of Americans at War (2014), and The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations (2018).

Some of John McCain’s medals:

The Prisoner of War Medal - American Post-WW2 Military Medals

The Prisoner of War Medal (USA)

The Commendation Medal - Army - USA Military Medals

The Army Commendation Medal

The Distinguished Flying Cross - American Interwar Medals

The Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)

The Legion of Merit

The Purple Heart

The Silver Star Medal (USA)

Although some Republicans see McCain as a controversial political figure due to his unorthodox political decisions—he chose to vote down a bill that would repeal the Affordable Health Care Act (NBC News had the apt title: “McCain hated Obamacare. He also saved it.”), almost all Americans have a huge respect for McCain’s military service, especially given the years that he served as a POW.

For his service and as a prisoner-of-war, McCain received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit with Combat ‘V’ and one gold star, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat ‘V’ and two gold stars, two Purple Hearts, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Prisoner-of-War medal. In October 2017, McCain received the Liberty Medal.

Diagnosed with a type of brain cancer in July 2017, McCain decided to discontinue treatment on August 24, 2018, dying on August 25, 2018. McCain’s remains laid in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, a high honor that has been presented to fewer than three dozen people, including Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.

Sources

Dr. Mary Walker: Unconventional Suffragette & Only Female Medal of Honor Recipient

Dr. Mary Walker is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. She was also a suffragette with a unique perspective on women’s rights.

Dr. Mary Walker was the epitome of unorthodox. She was (and still is!) the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. In addition, she was a suffragette with a unique perspective on women’s suffrage who was regularly arrested for impersonating a man by wearing men’s clothing.

Who Was Mary Walker?

This unusual woman was born on November 26, 1832 in Oswego, New York. Her parents were abolitionists, and her father encouraged Dr. Walker and her four sisters to dress as they liked, as he found skirts and corsets restrictive. Walker opted for “bloomers” and later chose to wear all male attire.

Walker’s father also encouraged his daughters to pursue education even though that was unusual for females at the time. When Walker graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1855, she was the only female in her class and was one of the few female physicians in the country at the time.

Dr. Walker worked as a doctor in private practice for a few years until the Civil War broke out in 1861. She traveled to Washington, D.C. to apply for an appointment as an Army surgeon, but was rejected because she was a woman. Walker chose to volunteer as a doctor for the Union Army instead of applying to be a nurse due to her credentials. As a result, she became the first female surgeon in Army history.

At first, Walker worked at the temporary hospital set up at the U.S. Patent Office in D.C. and then moved to Virginia in November 1862, presenting herself as a field surgeon at the headquarters of Major General Ambrose Burnside. A month later, Walker found herself treating the wounded at Warrenton and Fredericksburg in December 1862.

During the next fall, Walker treated the casualties of the Battle of Chickamauga in Chattanooga, Tennessee and decided to request commission as an Army doctor again after the battle. In September 1863, Major General George H. Thomas appointed Walker as an assistant surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland, and she was assigned to the 52nd Ohio Regiment. As an assistant surgeon, Walker was the equivalent of a lieutenant of captain and had finally achieved paid work as a surgeon.

Mary Walker Is Captured and Released

In October 1864 after Walker had been released from Confederate control, the Medical Department granted Walker another contract as an acting assistant surgeon.

Although Walker wanted battlefield duty again, she was not sent into the field. Instead, she served as the superintendent of a hospital for female prisoners in Louisville, Kentucky and the medical director of a orphanage in Clarksville, Tennessee for the rest of the Civil War.

After the war, Walker was released from government contract, but she lobbied for a brevet promotion to major for her services. While she did not receive that promotion, President Andrew Johnson decided on an unorthodox way to honor her service: a Medal of Honor, which she received in January 1866.

In 1910, the standards for the Medal of Honor were revised, and the Army reviewed all of the medals that had been awarded, rescinding 910 of them. Dr. Walker’s was one of those, as the new standards indicated direct combat with the enemy which Walker had not experienced.

Even so, Walker had no plans of giving up her award. She had worn and planned to continue to wear her Medal of Honor every day of her life. Thus, when the federal marshals arrived at her door to take her medal away in 1917, Walker opened the door with a 12-gauge shotgun and the Medal of Honor around her neck. The federal marshals decided to leave, and Walker continued to wear the medal every day until her death in 1919.

Mary Walker And the Medal of Honor

While Walker got to keep her medal, she had still lost the title of recipient of the Medal of Honor until almost sixty years after her death. On June 19, 1917, Walker’s Medal of Honor was reinstated by Army Secretary Clifford L. Alexander under President Jimmy Carter. To this day, Walker is still the only female recipient of the Medal of Honor.

In addition to being the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor, Walker was also an unusual feminist and suffragette. After the Civil War, she gave countless speeches about dress reform and women’s rights, but distanced herself some from the women’s suffrage movement.

Walker did not believe there was a need for a women’s suffrage act because women already had the right to vote as American citizens, which she stated in her 1907 published work entitled “Crowning Constitutional Argument.” Walker would also testify before the House of Representatives in the issue of women’s suffrage in 1912 and 1914.

In addition, Walker challenged the norms of what it meant to be a female in America with her choice of clothing. By the 1870s, Walker exclusively wore men’s clothing and was frequently arrested for impersonating a man. Walker stated in one trial that she should be able to dress as she pleased because she served in the Civil War “in the cause of human freedom.” The judge found that argument persuasive, and Walker was released.

The U.S. Medal of Honor

The Legacy of Mary Walker

Dr. Walker was certainly quite an unusual lady, well ahead of her time. She would receive several honors in addition to the Medal of Honor. The U.S. Postal Service issued a first-class stamp in 1982 to commemorate Dr. Walker. A World War II Liberty Ship was named the S.S. Mary Walker, and several medical facilities bear her name.

Although not kindly regarded by her contemporaries, Dr. Walker marched to the beat of her own drum and demonstrated her courage and willingness to promote freedom during her service as a medical contract doctor in the Civil War and as a vigorous and outspoken proponent of women’s rights, including the right to dress as they pleased. Dr. Walker certainly did!

Why Colonel Ruby Bradley Was Known as the Angel in Fatigues

Born near Spencer, West Virginia in 1907, Ruby Bradley would later become one of the most decorated women in American military history.

Born near Spencer, West Virginia on December 19, 1907, Ruby Bradley would later become one of the most decorated women in American military history. Bradley’s first career, though, wasn’t as an Army nurse. She was a teacher!

Who Was Ruby Bradley?

In 1926, Bradley graduated from Glenville State Teachers College and taught four years in one-room schoolhouses in Roane County. In 1930, she entered the Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing, graduating as a surgical nurse in 1933. In 1934, Bradley entered the Army Nurse Corps as a surgical nurse and served as Walter Reed General Hospital until she was assigned to Station Hospital at Fort Mills, Philippine Islands in February 1940.

A year later, she transferred to Camp John Hay on the island of Luzon in the Philippines where she was on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Hours after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese bombed the American defenses in the Philippines where Bradley was stationed as a thirty-four-year old Army nurse.

Three weeks later, Bradley was captured and would spend the rest of the war as a POW in three different prison camps. For the duration of World War II, 2nd Lieutenant Bradley would care for the wounded and sick around her. She had been at Camp John Hay for almost one year until the Japanese moved Bradley to Camp Holmes in April 1942. About a year and a half later, Bradley and 65 other nurses took an optional transfer to Manila to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp on September 5, 1943.

Even though the conditions at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp were awful and deteriorated as the war continued, Bradley and her fellow nurses continued to care for the sick and assist the starving children. It was here that Bradley and several other nurses earned the title of “Angels in Fatigues,” as she would take some of the food she had been given for her own nourishment and instead would feed it to hungry children. She was even able to use the excess space in her uniform that she gained from losing weight to smuggle surgical material into the POW camp.

Some of Ruby Bradley’s medals:

The Bronze Star Medal

The National Defense Medal

The Commemorative Medal for United Nations Operations in Korea

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

The Army of Occupation Medal

The Inter Allied Victory Medal (Great Britain)

The POWs normally received only half a cup of rice in the morning and half a cup of rice in the evening. Bradley saved part of her limited rations when the children would start crying at the end of the day. She also became an excellent thief, putting food in her pockets for the children.

In addition, she would help with 230 surgeries and deliver 13 babies. As Bradley remembered, the Japanese were amazed at the work that Bradley and her fellow nurses could do without any instruments. For example, Bradley used a tea strainer and gauze to anesthetize a pregnant woman who had gone into labor.

Ruby Bradley Is Liberated

On February 3, 1945 after three years of captivity, U.S. troops stormed the gates of Santo Tomas Internment Camp and liberated Bradley and her fellow prisoners. She weighed only 86 pounds when she left the Japanese camp.

Bradley returned home to West Virginia to recover after her years in captivity, but returned to the battlefield during the Korean War five years later. She served as Chief Nurse of the 171st Evacuation Hospital during the Korean War and again illustrated her deep devotion and care for those who were wounded and sick, putting her own life at risk. Bradley was later named Chief Nurse for the Eighth Army in 1951, supervising over 500 Army nurses throughout Korea.

In November 1950, during the Chinese counteroffensive, she refused to leave until she had loaded the wounded onto a plane even though she was surrounded by 100,000 Chinese soldiers. She was the last person on the plane, as she watched the ambulance explode behind her. As Bradley once stated in a TV interview, “You got to get out in a hurry when you have somebody behind you with a gun.”

The Legacy of Ruby Bradley

Bradley became the first woman to receive a national or international guard salute when she received a full-dress honor guard ceremony when she left Korea in June 1953. She would also become the third woman in Army history to be promoted to the rank of colonel on March 4, 1958 at Fort McPhearson, Gerogia.

Bradley retired from the Army in 1963 after three decades of service, but continued in the field of nursing for 17 years, working as a supervisor in a private nursing facility in Roane County, West Virginia.

In later years, Bradley would receive more acknowledgment for her work during World War II and the Korean War with her hometown of Spencer, WV giving a parade in her honor on “Ruby Bradley Day” in September 1991 and Tom Brokaw presenting a story on NBC Nightly News on February 23, 2000 about the forgotten heroes of the American military, referencing Colonel Bradley and her work.

Bradley died in Hazard, Kentucky on May 28, 2002, but was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on July 2, 2002. In 2013, Nancy Polette, author of countless educational books and materials for children, wrote a book about Bradley entitled Angel in Fatigues.

Colonel Bradley received 34 medals and citations of bravery during her thirty years of service, including two Legion of Merit medals, two Bronze stars, two Presidential Emblems, the World War II Victory Medal, and the U.N. Service Medal. She also received the Red Cross’s highest international honor—the Florence Nightingale Medal.

Although Bradley was one of—if not the—most decorated woman in American military history, she never thought too highly of herself. When asked about her time in the service or about the fact that she was one of America’s most decorated military women, Bradley normally responded that it was just all in a day’s work. As many other medal recipients have said, Bradley wanted to be remembered as just an Army nurse.

Sources

The Most Decorated U.S. Service Members (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps)

No matter what country you’re from, we all owe a huge debt to the countless service members who have risked their lives for our freedom. Some, however, went substantially above and beyond the call of duty and have received numerous medals for their valor and gallantry.

While you may not recognize all of these names, it’s important to study the stories of the most decorated U.S. service members—one from each branch of service—who did so much to protect our freedom.

Army

Major Audie Murphy (World War II)

Audie Murphy is a name that many would recognize due to his acting career after the war, but he was also quite the soldier during World War II and is known as the most decorated soldier of World War II. Growing up on a sharecropper’s farm in Hunt County, Texas, Murphy had to assist in raising his 10 siblings after his father left his mother and dealt with the untimely death of his mother when Murphy was only 16.

After Pearl Harbor, Murphy wanted to join the Marine Corps to assist in the war effort and get out of the poor life that he knew and lied about his age in an attempt to enlist in the USMC. However, his height of 5’5” kept him out of the Marines and the paratroopers, so he opted for the infantry. After basic training, Murphy was assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division currently in North Africa and preparing to invade Sicily in 1943. Murphy would land at Salerno and fight in the Voltuno River campaign and later at Anzio in 1944 as a part of the Allied force fighting to Rome, rising in the ranks from private all the way up to Staff Sergeant.

After the Battle of Cisterna in January, Murphy and the 3rd Division returned to Anzio. On March 2, 1944, Murphy and his platoon held out in an abandoned farmhouse to escape bad weather and annihilated a German tank and its crew that was passing by with rifle grenades. Murphy was awarded the Bronze Star with a “V” (for valor) device for this action. In addition, Murphy and 60 others of B Company, 15th Infantry were awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge on May 8, 1944.

After this time in Italy, Murphy and his unit were withdrawn to train for Operation Anvil-Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, which Murphy took part in where he and his platoon were attacked by German soldiers as they fought through a vineyard. Grabbing a machine gun, Murphy returned fire, killing two Germans and wounded one and then killed six, wounded two more, and took 11 German prisoners from a house 100 yards away. For these actions on August 15, 1944, Murphy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The 1st Battalion also received a Presidential Unit Citation for their fighting around Montélimar.

In September 1944, Murphy received a Purple Heart from mortar shrapnel, and he also received a Silver Star medal for charging a German machine gun position, killing four and wounding three. Murphy would later add a Bronze Leaf to his Silver Star, indicating an additional act of valor. Murphy had directed fire against the Germans under constant, direct fire, resulting in the death of 15 enemy soldiers and 35 wounded.

Murphy’s most heroic act, however, happened on January 26, 1945 near the village of Holtzwihr in eastern France. Faced with six Panzer tanks and 250 infantryman, Murphy and his men fell back to increase their defenses. Murphy mounted an abandoned burning task and repelled the German advance for nearly an hour alone and with a single machine gun, even through a wound in the leg. Murphy single-handedly killed 50 Germans and allowed Murphy and his men to counterattack and drive the enemy from Holtzwihr.

Murphy received the Medal of Honor and Legion of Merit for this action on June 2, 1945 in Salzburg, Austria. After the war when asked about his decision to seize the machine gun and take on a company of German infantry single-handedly, Murphy replied, “They were killing my friends.”

At the end of the war, Murphy had become America’s most decorated soldier, receiving every U.S. military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army as well as three medals from France and one from Belgium. This included the American Campaign Medal, the European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with arrowhead device and 9 campaign stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp for U.S. medals.

Murphy received the following medals and accolades from France: the French Legion of Honor – Grade of Chevalier, the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, the French Liberation Medal, and the French Fourragère in Colors of the Croix de Guerre, which was authorized for all members of the 3rd Infantry Division who fought in France during World War II. Finally, Belgium awarded Murphy the Belgian Croix de Guerre with 1940 Palm. Murphy would receive all of these medals before he turned 22 years old.

When Murphy came back from the war, he became an actor and was featured in forty films, including the film adaption of his book, To Hell and Back. He had to sleep with a pistol underneath his pillow because he suffered from what we would now call PTSD. Murphy died at the age of 46 due to a private plane crash near Roanoke, Virginia in 1971. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and has the most visited grave after John F. Kennedy and the Unknown Soldier.

Navy

Boatswain’s Mate First Class James “Willie” Williams (Vietnam War)

Born in South Carolina in 1930, Cherokee Indian James “Willie” Williams enlisted in the Navy in 1947 as a 16-year-old with a fraudulent birth certificate. While Williams would serve almost 20 years in the U.S. Navy, he received the majority of his medals during the last seven months of service in Vietnam.

Williams served during the destroyer U.S.S. Douglas H. Fox during the Korean War and completed additional tours on several naval vessels following the end of the Korean War. In May 1966, Williams was assigned to command Patrol Boat, River 105 in South Vietnam, which was a 30-foot fiberglass that often carried four men who patrolled inland waterways to prevent the Viet Cong from using them. On July 1, 1996, Williams’s leadership of his patrol that had come under fire from a Viet Cong sampan resulted in the death of five VC and the capture of the enemy boat, which would earn Williams a Bronze Star Medal with a “V” for valor device. In less than a month, Williams would also receive another Bronze Star for valor as well as a Silver Star and the first of three Purple Hearts.

On October 31, 1966, Williams’ actions against the Viet Cong would earn him the Medal of Honor, making him one of the 32 Native Americans to receive this award. During the command of a two-boat patrol, Williams and his crews discovered the increasingly larger force of Viet Cong, which he held at bay each time. During the discovery of a larger force, Williams called for helicopter gunship support but did not wait for the armed forces to attack. His two-boat patrol fought a three-hour battle that destroyed or damaged 65 VC boats and killed 1,200 VC.

Several months later in January 1967, Williams’s actions to receive a drowning man from the Navy dredge Jamaica Bay would earn him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, sometimes called “the non-combat medal of honor,” and his attack of three VC heavy-weapons companies of 400 fighters, killing 16, wounding 20, and destroying 9 sampans and junks, even when wounded himself would earn Williams the Navy Cross.

During Williams’s last seven months in the Navy, he received every sea-service award for heroism, including the Legion of Merit with a “V” for valor device, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, and three Purple Hearts. After he returned home, he began a career in the U.S. Marshals Service. Williams died in 1999, but his widow Elaine Williams watched the launching of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer, U.S.S. James E. Williams, in 2003.

Williams became the most decorated enlisted man in the Navy, one of only seven men and the only enlisted man to earn all of the “Big Three” valor awards—Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, and Silver Star Medal. His other awards include the Korean Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation—both Gallantry Cross and Civil Actions, the United Nations Korea Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960 device, and the Korean War Service Medal (South Korea).

Air Force

Brigadier General George Everette “Bud” Day (World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War)

Although you probably don’t recognize the name of Brigadier General George Everette “Bud” Day, he is considered to be the most decorated United States military officer since General Douglas MacArthur. Born in humble beginnings in Sioux City, Iowa in 1925, Day would earn over 70 awards, decorations, and medals.

Like many other young men, Day dropped out of high school to enlist in the Marine Corps in December 1942. He would serve for 30 months in the Pacific Theater. When he was discharged in November 1945, Day used the G.I. Bill to attend college, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree and a PhD in Humane Letters from Morningside College and a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of South Dakota. During his time in college, Day served in the United States Army Reserves.

In 1950, Day transferred to the Iowa Air National Guard and began active duty in July 1950, earning his pilot’s wings in September 1952. Beginning in 1953, Day flew two Korean War tours in F-84 Thunderjets with the 559th Strategic Fighter Squadron, based out of Japan. From 1955 to 1959, Day would serve with the 55th Fighter Bomber Squadron based at RAF Wethersfield, England.

For roughly the next eight years, Day would command the ROTC unit at St. Louis University in addition to serving as assistant professor of aerospace science and adding a Master of Arts degree in International Law and later serve as an Air Force Advisor to the New York Air National Guard at the Niagara Falls Air Force Base for two-and-a-half years.

In 1967, anticipating a retirement, then Major Day volunteered for a tour in Vietnam. He first served as an F-100 Assistant Operations Officer at Tuy Hoa Air Base and completed 72 missions. In June 1967, Day was reassigned to become the first commander of the Misty Super FACs at Phu Cat Air Base, flying 67 missions in North Vietnam by August. On one mission, the North Vietnamese shot down his plane, and Day was captured by the North Vietnamese. While he originally was able to escape, he was recaptured two weeks later near Quang Tri City and would spend the next five-and-a-half years in a prison camp in North Vietnam. When Day was released on March 14, 1973, Day had survived 2,028 as a prisoner of war.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded Day the Medal of Honor for bravery and leadership during captivity. When Day retired from active duty in 1977, he had earned nearly 70 medals, including the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross, one of only two men to receive both awards—the other recipient being Tech Sergeant John Chapman who served in Afghanistan.

Day died in 2013 as a colonel (retired), but would posthumously receive the rank of brigadier general in 2018. The advancement was introduced by former POW cellmate and Senator John McCain.

By the time of his retirement, Day had flown over 6,000 hours and received numerous awards, medals, and decorations, including campaign medals from all three major wars (World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War), the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Prisoner of War medal.

Marine Corps

Sergeant Major Daniel Daly (World War I)

Although you probably don’t recognize the name Daniel Daly, he is one of the “fightiest Marines” who has ever lived and one of the fightiest service members too. One of only nineteen men, including seven Marines, to receive the Medal of Honor twice, Daly and Major General Smedley Butler were the only Marines to receive both Medals of Honor for different actions.

Born 1873 in New York, Daly had established a good record as a boxer even at the small size of 5’6” even before he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1899. Daly deployed in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China and was part of a small contingent of Marines who had the mission to protect American diplomats in Peking (modern-day Beijing). In mid-August 1900, Daly found himself having to defend a position on top of the wall between two gates, armed only with a rifle and a bayonet alone. During the night of August 14, Daly single-handedly held off several enemy charges while under constant sniper fire. He is believed to have inflicted around 200 casualties. For this action, Daly would receive his first Medal of Honor.

As Daly continued in his Marine Corps career, he was stationed at eight post in the United States and was assigned to numerous ships and saw combat in several countries, including leading a platoon of Marines ashore during the invasion of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914. Throughout his career, Daly would be offered an officer’s commission. But he would turn it down every time, saying that he would rather be an outstanding sergeant instead of just another officer.

In 1915, Daly deployed to Haiti to support the Haitian government’s battle against guerrillas known as Cacos. During the Battle of Fort Diptie on October 24, 1915, Daly and 37 other men who were mounted from the 15th Company of Marines were ambushed on three sides by 400 Cacos. As the Marines fought their way to high ground, they lost 12 horses and a mule that carried their only machine gun. Despite being under a barrage of fire, Daly voluntarily returned to the ravine to get the machine gun strapped to the dead mule, which returned getting past numerous enemy positions. Able to locate the machine gun, Daly returned with the heavy load of the machine gun and ammunition past more Cacos to the Marine position. During the next morning, three squads of Marines attacked the enemy from three different directions and surprised the Cacos, inflicting 75 casualties. Daly would receive his second Medal of Honor for this action.

In 1917, Daly, now 44 years old, would deploy to France with the American entry into World War I. Daly risked his life to extinguish a fire in an ammunition dump at Lucy-le-Bocage on June 5, 1918 and five days later assisted in a counterattack against the enemy at the Battle of Belleau Wood. The acting First Sergeant of 73rd Company, 6th Marines in support of another attack by the 1st Battalion, 6th marines, Daly is thought to have shouted to his men as they entered the wood, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” Although Daly was recommended to receive another Medal of Honor, the AEF headquarters rejected the request, believing that no one should receive three Medals of Honor. Instead, Daly received the Distinguished Service Cross and later the Navy Cross.

Daly would leave the Marine Corps in 1929 and live a quiet life until he died in 1937. He received numerous decorations and medals during his Marine Corps career, including the China Relief Expedition Medal, the Philippine Campaign Medal, the Expeditionary Medal with one bronze star, the Mexican Service Medal, the Haitian Campaign Medal, the World War I Victory Medal with Aisne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Defensive-Sectors clasps, the French Médaille militaire, Croix de Guerre with Palm, and Fourragère. In 2005, the United States Postal Service included Daly on one of four Distinguished Marines stamps alongside John Basilone, John Lejeune, and Chesty Puller.

I had the challenging task of selecting just one extremely decorated service member from each branch, but I’d encourage you to read about the many other decorated U.S. service members like Colonel Edward Rickenbacker (Army Air Corps, World War I) and Lieutenant General Chesty Puller (USMC, World War II and Korean War). The stories of their valor and bravery are truly inspiring.

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Iwo Jima: The Battle With the Greatest Number of Medals of Honor

Did you know that of the 82 Marines that were Medal of Honor recipients during World War II, over one-fourth, or twenty-two, of those awards were given for actions during the Battle on Iwo Jima?

Of the 27 Medals of Honor awarded at Iwo Jima, almost half, or thirteen, of the awards were posthumous. In addition, there were over 200 Navy Cross medals awarded, a decoration second only to the Medal of Honor, and many Navy Cross citations could have warranted a Medal of Honor.

The Medals of Iwo Jima

22 Marines and 5 sailors would receive Medals of Honor for their actions at Iwo Jima during the campaign that lasted slightly over a month and featured three Marine divisions minus one regiment. In fact, Iwo Jima is the most highly decorated single engagement in United States history.

By contrast, the second largest campaign for Medals of Honor award—Okinawa—was eighty-one days long, involved four Army and two Marine divisions, and 24 Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers, sailors, and Marines.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz’s phrase about Iwo Jima seems particularly apt:

“Among the men who fought on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Time after time, veterans who recalled fighting on Iwo Jima and who had participated in other battles like at Tarawa or Guadalcanal said that nothing compared to Iwo Jima.

Peter Zurlinden, a veteran Marine combat correspondent, noted that it was different: “At Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian, I saw Marines killed and wounded in a shocking manner, but I saw nothing like the ghastliness that hung over the Iwo beachhead. Nothing any of us had ever known could compare with the utter anguish, frustration and constant inner battle to maintain some semblance of sanity.”

About the Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima, which lasted from February 19 to March 26, 1945 featured around 70,000 Marines and somewhere between 18,000-20,000 Japanese on a volcanic island 660 miles south of Tokyo that was 2 miles wide by 4 miles long. It is estimated that there were at least 17,000 Japanese casualties, including dead and missing, plus 216 taken prisoner. The Marines suffered 6,800 deaths alone and a total of over 26,000 casualties. In the first day alone, the Marines would experience 2,400 casualties, a number comparable with American losses at Omaha Beach on D-Day at Normandy in June 1944.

Iwo Jima was the largest, yet costliest, Marine amphibious operation during World War II with a casualty rate of 35% of Marines employed. The bloodiest battle in the history of the Marine Corps, Iwo Jima was the only major Pacific battle in which the Marines suffered greater casualties than they inflicted. Due to the lethality of the campaign, junior Marines had to assume leadership roles in order to continue in the attack like Private first classes leading platoons because all the officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) had been killed.

The Strategic Importance of Iwo Jima

Although the campaign was extremely deadly, it was essential for the United States. It gave the Americans an advanced base, which would boost the strategic bombing campaign against mainland Japan, and it would assist in the eventual invasion of Japan. After the battle, Iwo Jima became the emergency landing site for over 2,200 B-29 bombers.

The Japanese had the upper hand as the defenders. Iwo Jima had few beaches and was replete with cliffs and caves. They had buried underground and riddled the landscape with pillboxes that blended into the ground. Although the Army Air Forces B-24 bombers had raided the island for 10 straight days and the Navy ships and carrier ships took over three days before the landing, the bombardment had little impact since most of the Japanese were underground.

The distinctive flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi took place on February 23, 1945, five days after the battle began. After the first flag raising of the day, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the famous moment of six Marines raising the flag, an image now ingrained in the mind of every American.

These men were Michael Strank, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and Harold Schultz. Until 2016, it was believed that the sixth man was John Bradley, a Navy hospital corpsman, who took place in the first flag raising that day, instead of Schultz who had died in 1995. Strank, Block, and Sousley would die on Iwo Jima.

The Medal of Honor and Iwo Jima

Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded for action on Iwo Jima, which is more than any other battle in U.S. history. This is fitting as the Medal of Honor is our country’s highest military award for bravery, and Iwo Jima required a bravery that many other battles did not.

The U.S. Medal of Honor

Of the twenty-seven Medals of Honor awarded, there were some that were particularly unique. Captain Robert H. Dunlap received the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima, and his cousin, Jim Stockdale, admired him as a boy and ended up becoming a Navy pilot, receiving a Medal of Honor for his heroism as a POW during the Vietnam War. They are the only cousin-pair to receive Medals of Honor.

Private First Class (PFC) Donald J. Ruhl was the only person from the state of Montana to receive a Medal of Honor during World War II. Joe McCarthy received a Medal of Honor, Silver Star, and three Purple Hearts and became the only active firefighter to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II. For his actions on February 17, 1945 before the battle began, Lieutenant (jg) Rufus G. Herring received the only Medal of Honor awarded to an LCI sailor during World War II.

Sergeant William G. Harrell lost his two hands during the Iwo Jima campaign protecting others and had two steel hooks for hands. But ever the prankster, he had goosed the hero in front of him with his hook moments before the Medal of Honor recipients walked into the ceremony to receive their awards from President Harry S. Truman.

Finally, PFC Jack Lucas was the youngest Medal of Honor recipient during World War II, receiving his decoration at the age of 17.

One Medal of Honor recipient from Iwo Jima is still alive: Hershel “Woody” Williams. He is one of the four remaining Medal of Honor recipients from World War II and the only Marine still alive. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions with a flamethrower in destroying a variety of enemy pillboxes.

Woody Williams like many others who survived feels grateful and that his medal does not belong to him. Instead, as he says, “It belongs to those Marines who did not get to come home.”

Medal of Honor Recipients at Iwo Jima

Cpl. Charles J. Berry

Lt. Col. Justice Chambers

Sgt. Darrell S. Cole

Capt. Robert Hugo Dunlap

Sgt. Ross F. Gray

Sgt. William G. Harrell

Lt. (jg) Rufus Geddie Herring

PFC Douglas T. Jacobson

Platoon Sgt. Joseph R. Julian

PFC James D. Labelle

2nd Lt. John H. Leims

PFC Jacklyn H. Lucas

1st Lt. Jack Lummus

1st Lt. Harry L. Martin

Capt. Joseph J. McCarthy

Pvt. George Phillips

Pharmacist’s Mate 1st Class Francis J. Pierce

PFC Donald Jack Ruhl

Pvt. Franklin E. Sigler

Cpl. Tony Stein

Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class George E. Wahlen

Gunnery Sgt. William G. Walsh

Pvt. Wilson D. Watson

Cpl. Hershel W. Williams

Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class Jack Williams

Pharmacist’s Mate 1st Class John H. Willis

Sources

Hallas, James. H. Uncommon Valor on Iwo Jima: The Stories of the Medal of Honor. Recipients in the Marine Corps’ Bloodiest Battle of World War II. Stackpole Books, 2016.
http://www.hwwmohf.org/woody-williams.html
https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/hershel-w-woody-williams-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-on-surviving-iwo-jima-1.330344
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/hershel-woody-williams
https://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/leatherneck-iwo-jima-hell-fire-out
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/iwo-jima-fact-sheet.pdf
https://www.historyhit.com/marines-iwo-jima/

The Arctic Convoys of the Second World War

How after a disaster in the Eastern front and the possible collapse of the communist giant, the USA and Great Britain helped the Red Army.

This night of the 21^st of June 1941, no one would have expected what followed. Well, some saw some signs that an enormous army was reaching the borders between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The tsunami that ensued was one of the most ambitious attack ever created by any army in the history of Mankind.

In a few days, lacking any real orders nor information from the Stavka (Soviet high command of the Armed forces) or Stalin, most of the troops of the Red Army were wiped out. The equipment was captured or destroyed. It would take several months for the Red Army to recover from this hurricane, and they would only stop the Germans in the suburbs of Moscow.

Seeing a total disaster in the Eastern front and the possible collapse of the communist giant, America and Great Britain decided to help the Red Army, in an unusual way but in a way that could only help the soviets recovering. The lend-lease program thus started in august 1941, taking its part in saving the explosion of the Soviet Union.

Where did the Arctic convoys come from, and where did they arrive?

Escorted by the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Navy, the convoys sailed in the north Atlantic to a meeting point situated in Iceland and then sailed through the north, crossing the Norwegian sea as far away from the coast as possible, the tumultuous Barents Sea and arriving in Murmansk or Arkhangelsk deep in the coast of the White Sea.

During this journey, the vessels and their escorts would sneak between the icebergs of the Arctic Ocean and the German naval bases located in the fjords of the Norwegian coastline.

Besides the danger of icebergs and the minus 50 degree Celsius the sailors could face, the main trouble was the wolf packs of GroßAdmiral Dönitz. These packs were composed of several U-Boote and were hunting the vessels all year long. The submarines were not the only hunters in the paths of the convoys, as the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst were also stationed in the fjords. As the Battle of the Atlantic was carrying on and with the slow death of the Kriegsmarine, these two Battleships had no real impact after 1942.

The destination of the convoys was not clear but the ideal target was Murmansk in the Kola peninsula. With the efficient rail network that covered the Soviet Union, it was the fastest stop to unload equipment and make it go across the country, until it reached front-line units.

Murmansk was at first a very dangerous stop for the convoys as Finland also joined the war against the USSR as a co-belligerent. One of the objectives of the Finns was to attack and cease Murmansk in case convoys would reach the Soviet Union. Operation ‘Silver Fox’ was a failure and the outnumbered and badly equipped Russians held Murmansk until the end of the war with Finland in 1944.

It would take around 10 to 15 days for the convoys to sail from their meeting point, either in Iceland or near the Orkney Islands, to Murmansk or Arkhangelsk.

Some may ask why the USA didn’t sail across the Northern Pacific to harbors like Vladivostok. The answer is quite obvious, since Japan declared war in late 1941. The Pacific Ocean was dangerous, not only because the Japanese Imperial Navy was hunting in the area, but also because in the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese did a ground landing and thus starting the only ground battle on American Soil.

Were the convoys that important for the USSR war economy?

We can always try and want to rewrite history, but the arctic convoys played a major role during the Great Patriotic War as the Russians call it nowadays. Some convoys were so stacked, it would take sometimes more than 6 months to unload their shipping in the soviet harbors. Tanks, aircraft, artillery, basic equipment like boots, trucks… The convoys unloaded more than 4 million tons of equipment into the arctic harbors!

Arguing about the necessity of the convoys is easy, knowing that all the Soviet war industries were displaced far away behind the Urals, but in 1941, when in the very first day of Operation Barbarossa, most of the Soviet air force was destroyed by the Blitzkrieg orchestrated by Nazi Germany, this equipment was more than necessary. It was vital.

The first English aircraft that set foot on Soviet territory was directly engaged in combat. Even “The Hurricanes” participated in the Battle for Moscow during winter 1941-1942, when the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapsing.

Why did the convoys play a Major role in the War?

The convoys played a major role in the war effort. Not only on the battlefield, even though the equipment provided by the UK and the USA was vital for the Soviet war effort, it wasn’t as vital as the diplomatic actions and trust it installed between the communist giant and the western democracies.

The convoys were vital for Stalin, but they were for Churchill as well. It showed that the West was prone to help the USSR before creating the “Second Front” in Western Europe in 1943 and 1944. Stalin was paranoiac but in the West was trying to help him, he knew he could trust the Allies and that they would not give up on him.

These sailors probably didn’t know it and some died without knowing it, but they played a major role in winning the War. They tried and succeeded to connect two different ideologies against a monstrosity only for the good to succeed in the end.As we look back, we must remember the sacrifice of these sailors, not because they did their job but because as FieldMarshal Mannerheim said : “Fortifications, artillery, foreign aid will be of no value, unless the ordinary soldier knows that it is HE guarding his Country.”

Sources:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-5-minute-history-of-arctic-convoys
https://www.rbth.com/longreads/arctic_convoys/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_convoys_of_World_War_II
Dönitz, Karl . The last Fuhrer. Peter Padfield.

Guest Contributor: Kjetil Vion is a writer and a history enthusiast. A passionate of France and modern military history, he has a special interest into the Prussian state, specially since the Sadowa battle against Austria. Always wanting to learn more, he now looks to spread his knowledge in history.

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