The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest award for military valor, and American presidents have presented more than 3,500 of them since the medal was established in 1862.
In 1990, Congress designated March 25 as National Medal of Honor Day to recognize the medal recipients, many of whom were honored posthumously for “gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty” during combat with the enemy.
Included in that number is Lance Cpl. William Prom, a machine gun leader in the 3rd Marines Division who grew up in Pittsburgh and Millvale. He died at 20, in 1969, while serving in the Vietnam War, but not before he helped fellow wounded Marines take cover and delivered “a heavy volume of fire with such accuracy that he was instrumental in routing the enemy.”
Prom is one of seven area Medal of Honor recipients included in a special display in the Hall of Valor at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Pittsburgh. The Hall of Valor honors more than 700 military veterans who were born, enlisted or lived most of their lives in Pennsylvania and have received various decorations for valor in action against enemy forces.
The application for a Medal of Honor is “a very long process,” said Tim Neff, the facility’s director of museum and education. “Somebody may have another medal, such as a Distinguished Service Cross, that may get upgraded to a Medal of Honor.”
Civil War veterans make up the largest portion of Medal of Honor recipients, totaling more than 1,500 — including Alonzo H. Cushing, an artillery commander with the Army of the Potomac who was wounded three times, the last fatally, as he continued to direct fire against advancing Confederates at Gettysburg.
Other medals were awarded to Civil War soldiers who kept their unit’s U.S. flag from falling into enemy hands. That was the case with Greensburg native Cpl. John C. Matthews, a member of the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry, who was recognized for preventing Confederate soldiers from capturing “the colors” during the Siege of Petersburg, Va., on April 2, 1865.
Area members of U.S. Colored Troops who were awarded the Medal of Honor include two Indiana County residents. James H. Bronson, a sergeant from Burrell Township, “took command of his company and gallantly led it” when all other officers had been killed or wounded during action at Chapin’s Farm, Va., on Sept. 9, 1864. First Sergeant Kelly Alexander, a Saltsburg area resident who served with a different unit during the same battle, raised the fallen colors and “rallied the men at a time of confusion and in a place of the greatest danger.”
Medals have been presented more sparingly to veterans of modern U.S. conflicts.
John J. Pinder Jr., a McKees Rocks native who graduated from high school in Butler, carried his Army radio ashore despite being wounded during the D-Day landing on June 6, 1944. Though weakened by loss of blood, he returned three times “into the fire-swept surf to salvage communication equipment.” He was shot twice in the legs and eventually perished, at 32, on the beach at Normandy.
Army Major William A. Shomo, who was born in Jeannette, was the lead pilot of two fighter planes headed over the Philippines on a photographic and strafing mission on Jan. 11, 1945. Instead, he veered from his course to attack an enemy bomber protected by 12 fighter planes. Despite the odds against them, Shomo and his wing man between them brought down the bomber and all but three of the enemy fighters.
During this year’s Medal of Honor Day, officials are scheduled to break ground for a planned National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. The museum foundation has raised more than $150 million to build the facility.
The foundation also plans to raise funds for creation of a Medal of Honor monument in Washington, D.C., authorized by recent bipartisan legislation.
About the medal
• The Medal of Honor is the only U.S. military award worn around the neck instead of being pinned on the uniform.
• There are three versions of the medal, including one for Army recipients and one for Air Force members. A third is awarded to those who have served in the Navy, Marines or Coast Guard.
• Among other privileges, as noted by veteran.com, recipients receive invitations to attend presidential inaugurations. As of Dec. 1, 2021, recipients qualify for a monthly pension of $1,489.37, in addition to any other pensions or benefits they might receive.
• More than 370 recipients hail from Pennsylvania.
• As of 2020, 19 service members have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice.
• Dr. Mary Walker, the sole female Medal of Honor recipient, originally was honored in 1865. She volunteered with the Union Army because she wasn’t allowed to join as a surgeon. Her medal was rescinded in 1917 because of her civilian status but was restored in 1977.
• Teddy Roosevelt is the only president who received a Medal of Honor. It was awarded in 2001, recognizing his role leading the “Rough Riders” in the 1898 Spanish-American War.
Westmoreland recipients
In addition to Matthews and Shomo, at least five other service members with Westmoreland County ties have received a Medal of Honor, as noted by the Westmoreland Historical Society:
Amzi D. Harmon — corporal, 211th Pennsylvania Infantry, capture of flag, April 2, 1865, at Petersburg, Va.
John C. Ewing — private, 211th Pennsylvania Infantry, capture of flag, April 2, 1865, at Petersburg, Va.
George W. McWilliams — Navy landsman, recognized for “gallantry, skill and coolness in action” while severely wounded and under enemy fire during the USS Pontoosuc’s capture of Fort Fisher and Wilmington, from Dec. 24, 1864 to Feb. 22, 1865.
Henry W.B. Mechlin — blacksmith, 7th U.S. Cavalry, helped hold a position that secured water for the command on June 25, 1876 at Little Big Horn, Mont.
Alvin P. Carey — Lycippus native and staff sergeant, U.S. Army 38th Infantry, mortally wounded while using grenades to single-handedly disable a German pillbox on Aug. 23, 1944, near Plougastel, Brittany, France.
