The 78 Soldiers Who Won the Congressional Medal of Honor for an Act of
Supreme Courage
England’s most coveted reward for heroism in battle is the Victoria
Cross. France gives her _Médaille Militaire_; Germany, her Iron Cross.
There has been little need of war medals in the United States, but with
the entrance of this country into the war Congress established its
medal of honor—called by its full title, The Congressional Medal of
Honor.
This decoration is given only to those who achieve an act of supreme
courage, or, as “General Orders” have it, to those who in action “have
fought with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the
call of duty.”
Seventy-eight of the 1,200,000 men in the A. E. F. received these
awards. Fifty-seven of this number were enlisted men, twenty-one were
officers. Nineteen awards were posthumous. For every 15,400 soldiers
who were in action one received the Congressional Medal.
The best showing was made by the 30th Division, the National Guard
organization of the Carolinas and Tennessee. Second honors go to the
89th Division, which is the selective draft unit of Western Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, and New Mexico. The third
largest is the 33rd or National Guard Division of Illinois. Fourth
honors go to the famous 2nd Division of Regulars, which includes the
Marines, while fifth place is shared by the two New York divisions, the
27th and 77th. The list follows: