The Medal of Honor is our nation’s highest military decoration – presented to a member of our armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself “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.”
Chattanooga’s Charles Coolidge is one of only 464 service men and women who were awarded the Medal of Honor among 16 million who served in World War II.
The most recent Medal of Honor presentation was Tuesday at the White House. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta was recognized for his heroism in Afghanistan.
Giunta “charged headlong into the wall of bullets,” President Barack Obama noted. Giunta helped a soldier with a leg wound get to safety, then ran forward to find two Taliban fighters carrying away his injured friend, Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan.
“He leapt forward,” Obama said. “He took aim. He killed one of the insurgents and wounded the other, who ran off.” Brennan and another American soldier died, and five others were wounded.
Such is the heroism of many of our troops.