Known to cross enemy lines in order to treat civilians, she may have been serving as a spy when Confederate troops captured her in the summer of 1864. Despite her training, she initially had to work as a nurse before becoming the Army’s first female surgeon. Only one woman has received the Medal of Honor, and her award was temporarily rescinded.Ī medical doctor who supported feminist and abolitionist causes, Mary Edwards Walker volunteered with the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. Nett provided an inspiring example for his men and was instrumental in the capture of a vital strongpoint.2. By his remarkable courage in continuing forward through sheer determination despite successive wounds, Lt. Wounded once more in the final assault, he calmly made all arrangements for the resumption of the advance, turned over his command to another officer, and then walked unaided to the rear for medical treatment. Again he was severely wounded, but, still unwilling to retire, pressed ahead with his troops to assure the capture of the objective. During the fierce hand-to-hand encounter which ensued, he killed 7 deeply entrenched Japanese with his rifle and bayonet and, although seriously wounded, gallantly continued to lead his men forward, refusing to relinquish his command. Nett spearheading the assault against the strongpoint. With another infantry company and armored vehicles, Company E advanced against heavy machine gun and other automatic weapons fire with Lt. Citation: He commanded Company E in an attack against a reinforced enemy battalion which had held up the American advance for 2 days from its entrenched positions around a 3-story concrete building. Place and date: Near Cognon, Leyte, Philippine Islands,14 December 1944. Army, Company E, 305th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.
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Rank and organization: Captain (then Lieutenant), U.S. His acts of valor are detailed in this except from the citation which accompanied the award:
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One of the Connecticut native recipients of the nations highest award was Captain Robert Nett. Signed into law July 12, 1862, the measure provided for awarding a medal of honor "to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldierlike qualities, during the present insurrection."Īlthough it was created for the Civil War, Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration in 1863.Īlmost 3,400 men and one woman have received the award for heroic actions in the nation's battles since that time. Shortly after this, a resolution similar in wording was introduced on behalf of the Army. The medal was "to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and Marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war." Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy medal of valor, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on December 21, 1861. The medal found support in the Navy, however, where it was felt recognition of courage in strife was needed. But Scott felt medals smacked of European affectation and killed the idea. After the Mexican-American War, the award was discontinued, which meant there was no military award with which to recognize the nation's fighting men.Įarly in the Civil War, a medal for individual valor was proposed to General-in-Chief of the Army Winfield Scott. In 1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a "certificate of merit" was established for any soldier who distinguished himself in action. Coverage was eventually extended to include all services and "any civilian national" wounded while serving with the Armed Forces.Īlthough the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the Revolutionary War, the idea of a decoration for individual gallantry remained through the early 1800s. In 1943, the order was amended to include personnel of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Officially reinstituted on February 22, 1932, the now familiar Purple Heart was at first an Army award, given to those who had been wounded in World War I or who possessed a Meritorious Service Citation Certificate. The Badge of Military Merit, as it was called, fell into oblivion until 1932, when General Douglas MacArthur, then Army Chief of Staff, pressed for its revival. Records show that only three persons received the ward: Sergeant Elijah Churchill, Sergeant William Brown, and Sergeant Daniel Bissel Jr. Designed to recognize "any singularly meritorious action," the award consisted of a purple cloth heart.
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The Medal of Honor The first formal system for rewarding acts of individual gallantry by the nation's fighting men was established by General George Washington on August 7, 1782.