Honoring medal’s history

I was fortunate in being able to attend last month’s White House ceremony where President Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Garlin Murl Conner’s widow, Pauline Conner. There have been approximately 3,500 Medals of Honor awarded in America’s history.

On July 12, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a resolution to award a “Medal of Honor” to those who “most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities.” The Medal of Honor has to be awarded by the president.

Gerald York, grandson of Sgt. Alvin C. York, Medal of Honor recipient and most decorated hero of World War I, attended the award ceremony for Conner. Sergeant York lived across the Tennessee border a few miles from Conner and became a lifelong friend after Conner returned home from World War II.