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Q. I think one of my ancestors might have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. How can I verify this and, if it’s true, learn more about his heroism?
A. There’s a website for that. The US Army Center of Military History maintains a listing of Medal of Honor recipients at <www.history.army.mil/moh.html>.
The site covers all of the more than 3,400 Medals of Honor issued by presidents, in the name of Congress, since the decoration’s creation in 1861. The full-text citations describing each individual’s heroism are listed by war, with larger groupings broken up alphabetically.
Names and citations through 1978 are taken from the US Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs report, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863–1978. Subsequent citations are taken either from a 2008 report to Congress (the Congressional Research Service’s report, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979–2008) or from the citations officially released and published by the White House at the time of the award.
Want more genealogy Q&A? You’ll find it in the book 101 Brick Wall Busters: Solutions to Overcome Your Genealogical Challenges from the editors of Family Tree Magazine (also available as a digital download).
From the November 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
More great genealogy resources from Family Tree Magazine:
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