Arrested and Unarmed, He Led a Cavalry Charge and Became the First Italian-American Medal of Honor Recipient
On June 17, 1863, Col. Luigi Palma di Cesnola was forced to watch his men get slaughtered near the village of Aldie, Virginia. Just hours earlier, his superior officer had placed him under arrest for protesting the promotion of a less experienced officer. His saber and sidearm had been stripped away. But the 30-year-old Italian […]
Hellacious Firefight in Vietnam Changes Life for Medal of Honor Recipient
Army Lt. Col. Harold Fritz was mere weeks away from leaving the Vietnam War unscathed and heading home to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, until he found himself amid a bloody firefight that would change his life and earn him the prestigious Medal of Honor. Fritz, 81, was born in Chicago but in 1949, his family moved […]
'Cautiously Optimistic': War Hero’s Medal of Honor Awaits Trump Decision
The paperwork is finished. The decision is not. A Staten Island soldier’s Medal of Honor case has reached the president’s desk more than a decade after his death in Afghanistan, placing the final call in the hands of President Donald Trump. Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, a Staten Island native assigned to the 10th Mountain […]
Remains of WWII Medal of Honor Recipient, Killed as a POW, Finally Comes Home
Capt. Willibald C. Bianchi, an Army Medal of Honor recipient who survived many obstacles in World War II, only to be killed in a terrible mistake, will finally return home to receive proper burial 80 years after he was declared missing in action. Bianchi, whose remains were properly identified on Aug. 11 by the Defense […]
The Veterans Who Shaped Call Of Duty, Medal Of Honor, And Other Military Video Games
If you’ve ever cleared a room in Call of Duty or rappelled into a hot LZ in Ghost Recon and thought, “This feels… weirdly real,” there’s a reason. In this guide, we look at the real veterans and military advisers behind games like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, and America’s Army — and […]
Vietnam DUSTOFF Pilot Who Saved 3,000 Earned Gold Medal Honor for MEDEVAC Crews
Warrant Officer Stephen Peth was making his final turn at treetop level when he looked through the green Plexiglas above his head. In the landing zone below, South Vietnamese soldiers were standing upright — usually a good sign. Suddenly, enemy rounds punched through the helicopter. Peth felt the impact in his right arm and pulled […]
Schumer Asks US Army to Award New York Hero with Medal of Honor
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The push to recognize U.S. Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, a Staten Island hero, with the nation’s highest military decoration has received another surge of momentum. Sen. Charles E. Schumer is renewing his push in suggesting Ollis receive the Medal of Honor. The effort comes a few weeks after the Richmond County […]
Medal Returned to Family of Soldier Killed in World War I
ORWIGSBURG, Pa. — Call it a day of reunification. Members of the Morrison family were reunited Wednesday with Pvt. Joseph W. Morrison, an Army medic killed in action in France during World War I. Pvt. Morrison was KIA on Nov. 1, 1918 — 10 days before the end of World War I — and his […]
Military Academies Quashed Army-Navy Game Advertisement Featuring Marine Recommended for Medal of Honor
The U.S. Naval Academy and West Point rejected an advertisement intended for the Army-Navy game last month that featured a Marine whom supporters believe should receive the Medal of Honor, a tribute that could have raised significant awareness of his heroic actions, his advocates said. The ad, which lauded the life and bravery of retired […]
80 Years After D-Day, the Family of a Black World War II Combat Medic Receives His Medal for Heroism
WASHINGTON — Waverly B. Woodson Jr., who was part of the only African American combat unit involved in the D-Day invasion during World War II, spent more than a day treating wounded troops under heavy German fire — all while injured himself. Decades later, and nearly 20 years after his death, his family finally received […]