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)

From left: Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, Sgt. 1st Class
Christopher Celiz and Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee  received
the Medal of Honor on Dec. 16, 2021 in a White House
ceremony.

President Biden awarding  the Medal of Honor to Master Sgt.
Earl Plumlee.

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.” The previous
December, Lincoln had approved a provision
creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor, which was
the basis of the Army Medal of Honor created by
Congress in July 1862.

The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would
become the nation’s highest military honor were
six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862
penetrated Confederate territory to destroy bridges, 
and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
and Atlanta, Georgia.

National Medal of Honor Day on March 25th recognizes all Medal
of Honor recipients. On March 25, 1863, Secretary of War, Edwin
Stanton presented the first Medals of Honor (Army) to six members
of “Andrews Raiders” for their volunteering and participation
during an American Civil War raid in April of 1862.