Medal of Honor Go to Medal of Honor

Stories of America's Greatest Heroes

Ken Harbaugh tells the stories of service members who have distinguished themselves through an act of valor. These stories feature recipients from the Civil War to present day, including a few who were originally overlooked for the medal.

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All Episodes

Color Sergeant Andrew Jackson Smith: From Slave to Soldier

Medal of Honor | S:5 E:1
Color Sergeant Smith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for keeping his unit’s battle flag out of enemy hands in the Civil War....
Listen to Color Sergeant Andrew Jackson Smith: From Slave to Soldier

CAPT Cromwell: Down With The Ship

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:8
Captain Cromwell was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in WWII for scuttling his submarine and preventing vital intelligence from falling in...
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SgtMaj Charles Hoffman (Ernest Janson): Battle of Belleau Wood

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:7
Sergeant Major Hoffman was awarded the Medal of Honor for single handedly stopping a German counterattack at the Battle of Belleau Wood....
Listen to SgtMaj Charles Hoffman (Ernest Janson): Battle of Belleau Wood

MSgt Roy Benavidez

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:6
MSgt Roy Benavidez was awarded the Medal of Honor after risking his own life during the Vietnam War to rescue wounded soldiers and recover the bod...
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2ndLt O’Brien: First Battle of the Hook

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:5
2ndLt O’Brien served in the Korean War and received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack to seize a vital hill....
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LT Capodanno: The Grunt Padre in Vietnam

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:4
Lieutenant Capodanno, a noncombatant chaplain, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for recovering wounded Marines....
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SERG Sabo Jr.: Ambush on the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:3
Sergeant Sabo was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for repelling an enemy ambush and saving a comrade’s life....
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MA2 Michael Monsoor

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:2
Master-at-Arms Second Class Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor after giving his life to defend fellow SEALs in Iraq....
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LT COL Rascon: No Soldier Left Behind

Medal of Honor | S:4 E:1
LT COL Rascon was awarded the Medal of Honor for recovering wounded soldiers in Vietnam and shielding them from grenades with his own body....
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Fernando García

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:8
During an engagement with China’s People's Volunteer Army in the Korean War, Fernando García gave his life to protect fellow Marines, for which he...
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Henry Erwin

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:7
Henry Erwin received the Medal of Honor for saving a plane full of his comrades, though he suffered severe injuries that required multiple surgeri...
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Happy Holidays from Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor | S:3
The Medal of Honor podcast team is taking some time off for the holidays but episodes will return on January 2nd....
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John Balch

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:6
John Balch was awarded the Medal of Honor for multiple displays of bravery in pivotal engagements during the first World War....
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Melvin Morris

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:5
Melvin Morris was awarded the Medal of Honor for escorting injured comrades to safety and for retrieving classified information to prevent it fall...
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Francis Wai

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:4
Francis Brown Wai was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the invasion of the Japanese-occupied Philippines in...
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Alonzo Cushing

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:3
Alonzo Hereford Cushing earned the Medal of Honor fighting against Confederate soldiers during Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg....
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Dan Daly

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:2
Dan Daly is one of only two Marines to receive the Medal of Honor twice....
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Randy Shugart

Medal of Honor | S:3 E:1
Randy Shugart received the Medal of Honor for actions in Somalia. His story would eventually serve as the basis for the book, and later movie, Bla...
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Hiroshi Miyamura

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:8
Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura’s military career included a two-and-a-half year period in which he suffered as a POW, earning him a secret nomination ...
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Alwyn Cashe

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:7
Alwyn Cashe received the Medal of Honor for rescuing fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle in Iraq, suffering grievous injuries in the process....
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Hector Cafferata

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:6
Hector Cafferata Jr was awarded the Medal of Honor for defeating enemy soldiers and holding critical ground during the Korean War....
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John Bobo

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:5
John Bobo’s bravery defending his comrades in combat, after suffering serious injuries, earned him the Medal of Honor, and the enduring respect of...
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James Howard

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:4
James Howard won the Medal of Honor as a fighter pilot defending American bombers from German attacks during WWII....
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Henry Johnson

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:3
Henry Johnson earned the Medal of Honor defending his comrades in hand-to-hand combat while heavily outnumbered, though his life after returning h...
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George A. Davis Jr

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:2
Davis earned the Medal of Honor attacking a vastly superior enemy formation during the Korean War....
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Eddie Rickenbacker

Medal of Honor | S:2 E:1
Rickenbacker was awarded the Medal of Honor for destroying two enemy aircraft in a one-versus-seven dogfight behind enemy lines....
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Rerun: Hershel "Woody" Williams

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:18
Earlier this week, Hershel Woody Williams, the last surviving WWII Medal of Honor recipient, passed away. His legacy endures. Here is his story....
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Harold Gonsalves

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:17
The only Latino Marine to earn the Medal of Honor during World War II, Harold Gonsalves sacrificed his own life for the sake of his fellow Marines...
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Tibor Rubin

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:16
Holocaust-survivor Tibor Rubin received the Medal of Honor for his incredible resilience as a prisoner of war in Korea....
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Joseph De Castro

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:15
Joseph De Castro was the first Latino to receive the Medal of Honor for his role in the Battle of Gettysburg....
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George Sakato

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:14
George Sakato's courageous solo charge up a German-held hill during World War II inspired his platoon to follow and capture more than 30 enemy sol...
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Rerun: John Chapman

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:13.5
John Chapman, the first airman since Vietnam to be awarded the medal, earned his Medal of Honor during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan....
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Rodolfo Hernandez

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:13
Corporal Rodolfo (Rudy) Hernandez received the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Korea, after he was launched a solo attack armed only with a bayo...
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Desmond Doss

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:12
Refusing to shoot or even to carry a weapon, Desmond Doss was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his service in Wo...
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William Harvey Carney

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:11
The first Black American to earn the Medal of Honor, William Harvey Carney nearly died at Fort Wagner in the Civil War - but he never once let the...
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Sen. Daniel Inouye

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:10
The only US Senator so far to receive both the Medal of Honor and the President Medal of Freedom, Senator Daniel Inouye earned the Medal of Honor ...
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Milton Olive

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:9
The first Black recipient of the Medal of Honor during Vietnam, Milton Olive sacrificed his own life to save four of his fellow soldiers....
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Juan Negrón

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:8
M.Sgt. Juan Negrón, a member of legendary Puerto Rican regiment the Borinqueneers, earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery in Korea....
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Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:7
The only women to ever receive the Medal of Honor, Army surgeon Mary Edwards Walker's award was rescinded towards the end of her life....
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Ernest Childers

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:6
For his service in World War II, Ernest Childers was the first Native American to receive the Medal of Honor since the 1880s....
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Hershel "Woody" Williams

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:5
The last surviving Marine to have received the Medal of Honor during World War II, Woody Williams' heroism was vital to American efforts in the Ba...
Listen to Hershel "Woody" Williams

William Pitsenbarger

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:4
William "Pits" Pitsenbarger flew in helicopter rescue missions to treat and evacuate wounded soldiers and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his s...
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Audie Murphy

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:3
Before Audie Murphy was a 1950s Hollywood star, he earned a Medal of Honor for his bravery in Germany during World War II....
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John Chapman

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:2
John Chapman, the first airman since Vietnam to be awarded the medal, earned his Medal of Honor during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan....
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Jacob Parrott

Medal of Honor | S:1 E:1
Jacob Parrott received the first Medal of Honor ever awarded for his participation in the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War....
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