In 1787, George Washington and the Constitutional Convention delegates composed this preamble: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
For all Americans, and especially those of us who have sworn “to support and defend” our Constitution, securing the “blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity” is more than just an aspiration. It is our sacred duty. And indeed, many have paid a great personal price in fulfillment of that duty.
March 25 is National Medal of Honor Day — the anniversary observance of the awarding of the first Medals of Honor. It’s an opportunity to recognize all of the recipients of our nation’s highest military award for valor and recall their extraordinary service and sacrifice on behalf of their brothers in arms and in defense of American Liberty.
On this day in 1863, Private Jacob Parrott was the first of six men to receive the Medal of Honor for their actions as members of Andrews’ Raiders, whose valorous acts on April 12, 1862, were immortalized in print and film as “The Great Locomotive Chase.” Those actions occurred just south of Chattanooga, Tn., the birthplace of the Medal of Honor and home of the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
The National Heritage Center’s educational mission is to instill the next generation of young people with the six character-trait pillars of the Medal of Honor — traits that are common to all recipients: Courage, Sacrifice, Patriotism, Citizenship, Integrity and Commitment.
Notably, Chattanooga was also the field of service for the only woman who holds a Medal of Honor, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Other well-known recipients from our area include World War I’s SGT Alvin York, whose life story was immortalized in the film “Sergeant York.” T/SGT Charles Coolidge is joined by another World War II veteran, my old neighbor CPL Desmond Doss, whose heroic actions were featured in the movie “Hacksaw Ridge.” And recent recipient CPT Larry Taylor was also from Chattanooga.
Since those first medals were awarded, American presidents and military commanders have, in the name of the United States Congress, presented Medals of Honor to more than 3,500 recipients — and amazingly, there have been 19 double recipients. In a nation of some 330 million people today, there are only 63 living recipients.
In 1992, during Ronald Reagan’s final public address, he offered these words about honoring our legacy of Liberty: “My fondest hope for each one of you is that you will love your country not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here. May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism.”
I invite you to help us extend “the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity” by ensuring that we as Americans “never forget our heroic origins” and by promoting and extending the legacy of all Medal of Honor recipients to the next generation.
Please consider a tax-deductible gift to support our hometown National Medal of Honor Sustaining Fund. Make a check payable to NMoH Sustaining Fund and mail to: Patriot Foundation Trust, PO Box 407, Chattanooga, TN 37401-0407. Visit the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center at Aquarium Plaza. (https://www.MOHHC.org)
"Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)
Join us in prayer for our nation's Military Patriots — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm's way, and for Veterans, First Responders and their families.
Mark Caldwell