Medal of Honor Day is a United States federal observance that is celebrated every year on March 25. It was created to honor the
"heroism and sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients for the United States." The holiday has been celebrated since 1991, when George
H. W. Bush signed Public Law 101-564 on November 15, 1990, which
was passed by the 101st U.S Congress.
George Herbert Walker Bush
(June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018)
Bernard John Dowling Irwin
(June 24, 1830 – December 15, 1917)
U.S. Army assistant surgeon Bernard John Dowling "J.D." Irwin
rescued a kidnapped boy and 60 soldiers encircled by legendary
Apache warrior Cochise on this day in history, Feb. 13, 1861.
Irwin’s heroic volunteer effort under dire circumstances in the
Arizona Territory has gone down in American military lore as
the first Congressional Medal of Honor action.
It took place before the award even existed.
The Cochise Stronghold in Arizona.
A Medal of Honor awarded to a Civil War general was
found inside a book at a church fundraising sale.
On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into
law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal
of Honor, in the name of Congress, “to such noncommissioned
officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by
their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during
the present insurrection.”
Abraham Lincoln
(February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)
Bernard John Dowling Irwin
(June 24, 1830 – December 15, 1917)
The earliest military action to be awarded a Medal of Honor
was performed by Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin, an assistant
army surgeon serving in the first major U.S.-Apache conflict.
Near Apache Pass, in southeastern Arizona, Irwin, an Irish-
born doctor, volunteered to go to the rescue of Second
Lieutenant George N. Bascom, who was trapped with 60
men of the U.S. Seventh Infantry by the Chiricahua Apaches.
Irwin and 14 men, initially without horses, began the 100-mile
trek to Bascom’s forces riding on mules. After fighting and
capturing Apaches along the way and recovering stolen
horses and cattle, they reached Bascom’s forces on February
14 and proved instrumental in breaking the siege.
A collection of Irwin’s papers is held at the National Library of
Medicine.
Fort Apache, Arizona
Apache Pass, Arizona
Though he had landed on the beaches of Normandy and been
wounded in battle fighting with the U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant
Marcario García was not yet a U.S. citizen when President
Harry S. Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor on August
23, 1945. García became the first Mexican national to receive
the American military’s highest honor.
Marcario García (January 20, 1920 – December 24, 1972)
