On multiple occasions, while awarding the Medal of Honor, President Harry S. Truman remarked, “I would rather have the blue band of the Medal of Honor around my neck than to be president of the United States.” But when Congress attempted to award the badge to him in 1971, he wrote to the House that he did ” … not consider that I have done anything which should be the reason of any award, Congressional or otherwise.”
Truman continued, saying the medal was for combat bravery, and awarding it to him would detract from that significance.
“This does not mean I do not appreciate what you and others have done, because I do appreciate the kind things that have been said and the proposal to have the award offered to me,” Truman wrote. “Therefore, I close by saying thanks, but I will not accept a Congressional Medal of Honor.”
The state of Tennessee boasts 32 of the medal’s 3,525 honorees thus far, including a Signal Mountain native for whom the new Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center is named.
Later this month, the Heritage Center will open downtown with 14 permanent exhibits detailing the heroism and actions that earned the featured soldiers the nation’s highest military honor, with a special focus on those accredited to Tennessee. The center will also feature a rotating exhibit that will change every 90 days.