Championship games and matches are the ultimate test of teamwork. And for Medal of Honor Recipients, many of them would credit their overcoming of odds on the battlefield to their team and the necessity of working together.  

Amid the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, we sat down with Charlie Baker, NCAA president and former governor of Massachusetts, who told us how collegiate athletes can learn about the value of a team from Medal of Honor Recipients. Baker has developed a relationship with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society since his early days in office as the governor of Massachusetts, and he recently hosted Medal of Honor Recipients Britt Slabinski, Sammy Davis and Earl Plumlee at the Purdue Boilermakers v. Grambling State Tigers men’s basketball game in Indianapolis on Friday, March 22. 

When you were governor of Massachusetts, you formed a special relationship with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Recipients. How did that come about, and how did that relationship grow over time? 

Before I was governor, I worked in two previous administrations in the 1990s. I was the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Administration and Finance.  And during that time, I got to know two Medal of Honor Recipients: Tom Hudner, who was the Veterans Affairs secretary at that time, and Tom Kelley, who was the Veterans Affairs secretary after [Hudner]. I had a chance to spend some time talking to those two gentlemen, learning about their stories and learning about the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. And I just came to believe that it was an extraordinary organization made up of extraordinary people who did extraordinary things, but didn’t wear it on their sleeves and never took credit for it. I always believed that they were part of a team. Hudner, Kelley and every other Medal of Honor Recipient I ever met [said things like]… “everybody did what I did. I was just the one who got recognized.” They are really special individuals. 

What inspires you personally about Medal of Honor Recipients? 

I think it’s their humility. There are no “airs” about them, even though some of the things these people have done are just almost unimaginable. I constantly remind myself, as somebody who spent 16 years appointed in an elected office of government that my opportunity to serve in government, to get elected governor, to serve and work for two governors … it’s very much a function of the sacrifices that were made by Medal of Honor Recipients, other members in the military, and their families. I sit on their shoulders.   

What can collegiate athletes learn from Medal of Honor Recipients? 

I think the biggest thing collegiate athletes can learn from Medal of Honor Recipients is that, like sports, life and service are team sports. You talk to anybody who’s a Medal of Honor Recipient, and they talk about the team. They talk about the folks who didn’t get recognized. They talk about the folks who saved their life and made it possible for them to be in the position they were in to save somebody else’s life. I find the sense of camaraderie, the sense of belonging to something special that they just exude, the stories they tell, and the lives they lead, are exactly the sorts of lessons that every student athlete should know and, I hope, learns from their own experience as teammates and student athletes. 

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About the Congressional Medal of Honor Society    

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Medal of Honor (the United States’ highest award for military valor in action) and its Recipients, inspiring Americans to live the values the Medal represents, and supporting Recipients as they connect with communities across America. Chartered by Congress in 1958, the Society’s membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor.    

The Society carries out its mission through outreach, education, and preservation programs, including the Medal of Honor Character Development Program, Citizen Honors Awards, and The Medal of Honor Museum. As part of Public Law 106-83, the Medal of the Honor Memorial Act, The Medal of Honor Museum, which is co-located with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s headquarters on board the U.S.S. Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was designated as one of three national Medal of Honor sites.    

 The Society’s programs and operations are fully funded by generous donors.   

Learn more about the Medal of Honor and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s initiatives at cmohs.org.