Question for Military People

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moke

moke

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Cedar Rapids, Iowa
I work as a Policeman in the town neighboring the recent Medal of Honor winners home town, Salvadore Guinta. The two towns often work together, helping each other and so on. Tonight there was a parade and reception honoring this very humble Medal of Honor winner. All our guys worked, it was an honor to help out.

Anyway, my question is, I was corrected by another officer...I said he is a Congressional Medal of Honor winner to someone else, I was told he was a Medal of Honor winner. Which is it? Is there a difference between these two?

Either way, in this world, it never seems like you seldom hear of heros anymore. This kid is a true hero, and really doesn't realize why...he was just doing his job, he says.
 
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The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on members of the United States armed forces who distinguish themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."[1] Due to the nature of its criteria, it is often awarded posthumously (more than half have been since 1941[4]).
Members of all branches of the armed forces are eligible to receive the medal, and there are three versions (one for the Army, one for the Air Force, and one for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard). The Medal of Honor is often presented personally to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin, by the President of the United States. Due to its honored status, the medal is afforded special protection under U.S. law.[5]
The Medal of Honor is one of two military neck order awards issued by the United States and is the sole neck order awarded to members of the armed forces. (The Commander's Degree of the Legion of Merit is also a neck order but it is only authorized for issue to foreign dignitaries).[6]
As the award citation includes the phrase "in the name of Congress", it is sometimes called the Congressional Medal of Honor; however, the official title is the Medal of Honor
 
He did not win the Medal of Honor, he was AWARDED the Medal of Honor. You don't win military medals, they are awarded for various reasons, such as the Purple Heart, it is awarded to persons wounded in combat. The Air Medal, it awarded for so many air combat missions.
 
Wikapedia is really on the ball.
Afghanistan
Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, 25, from Iowa, received the Medal of Honor November 16, 2010, making him the first living soldier from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to receive the award. The U.S. Army says Giunta was a team leader in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley when his squad was ambushed and split in two by insurgents.
Giunta stepped into the line of fire to pull a wounded soldier back to safety, and then engaged two insurgents who were carrying away another wounded soldier, killing one and wounding the other. Thanks to his heroics, both soldiers were pulled to safety on the Afghanistan battlefield that day. President Barack Obama awarded the medal to Giunta at a ceremony in the White House. Seven others have received the award posthumously.
President Obama called Giunta a soldier who is "as humble as he is heroic".
 
Read "Stealing the General" by Russell Bonds. Bonds lives in Marietta, GA and is a lawyer for the Coca-Cola Company,
It is the real story about how "The General" was stolen from Marietta during the Civil War and the awarding of the first Medal of Honor.
It is NOT the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Lee
 
Thanks all for the clarifications....I should have done more homework, but we were busy with the logistics of the visit and parade.
 
Consider yourself lucky to live near a recipient. With only 86 living, not many people do. I was privileged to live in the same neighborhood as 1Sgt David McNerney for several years, and he was a true gentleman as well as a hero. I am glad that I was able to point him out to my boys and say "That is what a real hero looks like, not somebody in a cape and bright colored pajamas"

I still haven't figured out what exactly to do with the two 223 blank casings that I was entrusted with from his memorial. Working on it though.
 
Irony

OKLAHOMAN said:
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on members of the United States armed forces who distinguish themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."[1] Due to the nature of its criteria, it is often awarded posthumously (more than half have been since 1941[4]).
Members of all branches of the armed forces are eligible to receive the medal, and there are three versions (one for the Army, one for the Air Force, and one for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard). The Medal of Honor is often presented personally to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin, by the President of the United States. Due to its honored status, the medal is afforded special protection under U.S. law.[5]
The Medal of Honor is one of two military neck order awards issued by the United States and is the sole neck order awarded to members of the armed forces. (The Commander's Degree of the Legion of Merit is also a neck order but it is only authorized for issue to foreign dignitaries).[6]
As the award citation includes the phrase "in the name of Congress", it is sometimes called the Congressional Medal of Honor; however, the official title is the Medal of Honor
Click to expand...
Just a tad of irony...there is a Congressional Medal of Honor Society chartered by Congress...membership is a little exclusive.
 
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