Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Press Releases
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute Hosts Annual Medal of Honor Forum with Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Organizations share education missions
(SIMI VALLEY, Calif.) – The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society (the Society) joined together today for their annual Medal of Honor Forum that combines the organizations’ shared education missions.
This year, the forum included Medal of Honor Recipients James “Doc” McCloughan and Leroy Petry who spoke with more than 250 students from across Southern California about resiliency and how students can “stay in the game.”
The Reagan Foundation & Institute’s education mission is to develop and inspire the leaders of tomorrow through immersive and impactful learning opportunities like the Medal of Honor Forum. Their goal is to improve the leadership, communication, and decision-making skills of students, with an eye towards cultivating the next generation of civic minded leaders.
“We have partnered with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for more than a decade now, and as a result, thousands of students have had an opportunity to be inspired by the Medal of Honor Recipients and their powerful stories,” said Anthony Pennay, Chief Learning Officer of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. “President Reagan said that ‘freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” and that it must be protected and passed on from each generation to the next. The Recipients exemplify the very best in both protecting and passing freedom along through their service to our nation’s children through this program.”
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s education mission comes directly from the purpose that Congress cited when establishing the organization in 1958– inspiring and stimulating youth to become good citizens. The Society offers its Medal of Honor Character Development Program as a free resource to schools and educators who wish to teach courage, commitment, integrity, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism—values linked to the Medal of Honor.
Society President and Medal of Honor Recipient Leroy Petry said, “We want students to understand the ideals we value as Americans and that they belong to all of us, whether we wear a uniform or whether you’re a civilian or still in school. It’s never too early to understand the importance of courage and integrity and how you can live these principles in your own life. This is why we have the Medal of Honor Character Development Program.”
About the Ronald Reagan Foundation & Institute
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is the sole nonprofit organization created by President Reagan charged with continuing his legacy and sharing his principles – individual liberty, economic opportunity, global democracy and national pride. The Foundation is a non-partisan organization which sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Presidential Learning Center, The Air Force One Pavilion, the award-winning Discovery Center and the Reagan Institute, which carries out the Foundation s mission in Washington, DC.
The Reagan Library houses over 55 million pages of Gubernatorial, Presidential and personal papers and over 60,000 gifts and artifacts chronicling the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. It also serves as the final resting place of America s 40th President and his First Lady.
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 and its Recipients, inspiring Americans, and supporting the Recipients as they connect with communities across the country. Chartered by Congress in 1958, its membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor. There are 66 living Recipients.
The Society carries out its mission through outreach, education and preservation programs, including the Medal of Honor Museum, Congressional Medal of Honor Outreach Programs, the Congressional Medal of Honor Character Development Program, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Citizen Honors Awards for Valor and Service. The Society’s programs and operations are funded by donations.
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.
Learn more about the Medal of Honor and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s initiatives at https://www.cmohs.org.