On Friday, President Biden will award the United States’ highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, to service members who displayed exceptional valor in combat. Here, the U.S. flag flies at half-staff above the White House following the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29.
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President Biden will award the United States’ highest military honor Friday to seven U.S Army soldiers who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
The Medal of Honor is awarded to service members who demonstrate exceptional valor in combat. Biden will award the designation Friday posthumously to six men — Pvt. Bruno R. Orig, Pfc. Wataru Nakamura, Cpl. Fred B. McGee, Pfc. Charles R. Johnson, retired Gen. Richard E. Cavazos and Capt. Hugh R. Nelson Jr. — in addition to Spc. 4th Class Kenneth J. David.
Orig, Nakamura, McGee, Johnson and Cavazos served in Korea, where Orig, Nakamura and Johnson were killed in action. Nelson and David served in Vietnam, where Nelson was killed in action. Each risked his life and displayed “gallantry and intrepidity” while fighting enemy forces or working to save fellow service members, the White House said.
Biden will also award the Medal of Valor to eight first responders, including five police officers — Sgt. Jeffrey Mathes, Officer Rex Engelbert and Detectives Michael Collazo, Ryan Cagle and Zachary Plese — who responded to a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., in March 2023, killing the attacker.
The other recipients are Sgt. Tu Tran, who rescued a woman from a frozen pond in Lincoln, Neb., in February 2023; Lt. John Vanderstar, a New York City firefighter who rescued a mother and child from a burning building in October 2022; and New York City firefighter Brendan Gaffney, who rescued an unconscious child and pregnant woman from a fire in February 2023.
