Medal of Honor Recipients are a part of something greater. They collectively embody the values that we as a country strive to uphold—courage, bravery, and the desire and dedication to do what is right in the midst of life’s most difficult circumstances. But they are also unique. They are parents and siblings, colleagues and friends. They are ordinary people who did extraordinary things, each with their own story to tell.
Honor their sacrifice today so we may shape a better future tomorrow.
War on Terrorism (Iraq)
Thomas P. Payne
Payne was awarded the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on September 11, 2020, making him the most recent Recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was recognized for his actions in Iraq on October 22, 2015.
When Pfc. Langhorn's platoon came under intense attack, the casualties were placed away from the perimeter where he was radioing directions to overhead gunships and providing protective fire . An enemy grenade landed not far from his wounded comrades-in-arms. Seeing the danger, Langhorn threw himself on the grenade and pulled it into his own body. In giving his own life, he saved the lives of others, and for that, he was presented the Medal of Honor.
In 1969, a AC-47 aircraft over Vietnam was heavily damaged by a hostile mortar. The crew had been dropping magnesium flares to provide illumination for ground troops. As the plane limped through the air, wounded Airman First Class Levitow threw himself on an activated flare and dragged it to the open cargo door. He threw it out of the plane just as it exploded, saving everyone on the aircraft.
Damaged during a 1943 nighttime attack in the South Pacific, the submarine U.S.S. Growler needed to dive to save her crew. Gilmore, commander of the boat, was the last to leave the bridge. Realizing his wounds were too grievous to make it off the deck in time, his last order was "take her down." His remains were never recovered. For this final act, and for his brilliant command over the previous month, Gilmore received the Medal of Honor.
