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 […]
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 […]
Army Ranger Legend and Last Living Korean War Medal of Honor Recipient Ralph Puckett Dies at 97
When Ralph Puckett was chosen to lead a new Ranger company in 1950, he said a prayer: “Dear God, don’t let me get a bunch of guys — good guys — killed.” In late November 1950, the then-Army lieutenant was leading the 8th Ranger Company in a daring assault against entrenched North Korean machine guns […]
The First Medal of Honor Recipient of the Vietnam War Dies at Age 89
When Roger H.C. Donlon joined the Army in 1958, he was already familiar with military life. He had enlisted in the Air Force in 1953, but left to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1957, he resigned from the academy to just get into the Army — and maybe meet […]
Army Scrubs Fort A.P. Hill, Renaming Base in Honor of Female Medal of Honor Recipient
Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia was redesignated Friday as Fort Walker to honor Dr. Mary Walker, the only female Medal of Honor recipient, who earned the medal for heroics treating wounded troops in the Civil War while under fire. Fort Walker, a small Virginia Army installation that serves as one of the main training grounds […]