4 Concealed Stories -The Medals of Honor

1.      Why were the Irish awarded so many Medals of Honor

As noted above, Irish-Americans have disproportionately received the highest percentage of Medal of Honor awards.  The Irish have a long history of military service in the U.S.  As far back as the American Revolution, the Irish played a significant role in the war.  During this war, Ireland was part of the British Empire, and therefore, many Irishmen served in the British Army in North America and also volunteered to fight on the side of the Americans.  As the war expanded, and after our alliance with France, Irishmen formed the Irish Volunteers, a militia formed to fight for Ireland’s independence. 

At the time of the American Revolution, the Irish comprised an estimated quarter of America’s 2 million population.  But our stock stories about the Founding Fathers of this country and the Patriots feature only Anglo-Saxons.  Ignored are the Irish, who were also responsible for creating and winning the revolutionary struggle that created America. (Tucker 2026). As Irish immigrants began to serve in the Continental Army, several distinguished themselves.  These include Doctor James McHenry and John Fitzgerald, both of whom served as aides-de-camp to General George Washington at Valley Forge. (National Park Service, 2024) 

As the colonies began expanding, some of the first to settle these new areas were the Scotch-Irish.  Suffering both poverty and discrimination, many Irish immigrants enlisted in the U.S. Army during the late 18th and 19th centuries.  They served in many of the major frontier conflicts with Native nations, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.  In this battle, 103 Irishmen fought under Custer, and 34 died alongside him.  The Irish were a significant element in many military units, including the Irish Brigade during the Civil War.  Thus, in a strange way, the Irish who had been displaced by the British now became a major element of the displacement of Native Americans.  (Ford, 1915)

The American Civil War (1861-1965) was the costliest, both in terms of human life and economic impact.  Somewhere between 620,00 and 750,000 Americans (more than all other wars combined) died.  In recognition of the ultimate cost borne by so many, the Medal of Honor was created on December 21, 1861.  Almost 10 percent of Irish-born men, some 146, received the Medal of Honor.  Irish so-called “green flag” brigades, such as the Irish Brigade or Corcoran’s Irish Legion, are often mentioned.  But many more Irish-born served in non-Irish regiments or in naval units.  Of special note are the three Irishmen who actually received the award twice: Coxwain John Cooper of the U.S.S. Brooklyn for two separate actions in Mobile Bay, Alabama; Boatswain’s Mate Patrick Mullen for gallentry in action and lifesaving, both in 1865, and Fireman Laverty (Lafferty) for actions on the Roanoke River during th ear, and a second act of bravery in peacetime, aboard the U.S. S. Alaska in 1881. (Irish in the American Civil War, 2023)

Although no single published record of all Irish Medal of Honor recipients from the next series of major wars is available, the Irish continued these traditions of valor and courage through the major wars America would engage in. 

2.     CONCEALED STORY: MARCARIO GARCÍA

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Marcario García receiving the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman.

Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

Marcario García answered his nation’s call to go to war. García, a native of Mexico, grew up in the Fort Bend area in Texas. In November 1942 he was drafted and was soon bound for the European theater. There, during the Normandy attack in November 1944, he was wounded. When VE Day ended the war in Europe on May 8, 1945, he returned to the United States and his hometown. VJ Day, announcing the Japanese surrender and the end of World War II, occurred on August 14, 1945. Less than two weeks later, on August 23, 1945, Harry Truman awarded García the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony. García was a hometown hero.

A fabulous party was held to celebrate the local hero. A story in the Houston Post on September 7, 1945, was headlined “Sugar Land War Hero.” But just a day after this public welcome, Staff Sergeant García was refused service at the Oasis Café in the nearby city of Richmond. He was then beaten with a bat, resulting in his hospitalization; he was subsequently charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct. The charges were ultimately dropped, but this incident illustrates the racial climate in America at the time—a climate in which individuals could honorably serve, putting their lives on the line on foreign battlefields, and still come home to a place where their basic freedoms were circumscribed by race, class, and gender.

Source: Michael A. Olivas, “The ‘Trial of the Century’ That Never Was: Staff Sgt. Marcario García, the Congressional Medal of Honor, and the Oasis Café,” Indiana Law Journal 83, no. 4 (2008): 1391–1403.

3.     Concealed Stories: Native American Medal of Honor recipients

Although five Native Americans who served in World War II were Medal of Honor recipients, few have acknowledged the clandestine and important mission served by the group known as code talkers. Their story is both unique and important. The Japanese military had become very adept at breaking the sophisticated codes utilized by the U.S. forces. In the search for a solution, it was suggested that the Navajo language might be effective in thwarting Japanese codebreakers. This language, without an alphabet or symbols, was in use only in remote areas of the American Southwest. At the onset of World War II, no more than 30 non-Navajo could understand the language. Therefore, its potential as code was immediately recognized. During one of the hardest-fought battles in the Pacific theater, at Iwo Jima, a strange language was intercepted on American radio. The secret messages were derived from the Navajo language and transmitted by Native American soldiers. A total of 400 Navajo served in the Marine Corps as code talkers. While the value of their contributions was significant, they were not honored until September 17, 1992, at a ceremony at the Pentagon (Asturias 2008).

 

4.     African Americans and the Medal of Honor

 

On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to seven African American World War II veterans. Only one recipient, Vernon Baker, was still alive to receive it. On June 21, 2000, after more than 50 years, the government recognized and awarded 22 Asian American soldiers for their valor during World II. In awarding these medals, President Clinton stated, “It’s long past time to break the silence about their courage . . . Rarely has a nation been so well-served by a people it has so ill-treated” (quoted in Williams 2000). Most recently, President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to 24 overlooked Black, Hispanic, and Jewish heroes. In all these cases, a military tribunal declared that all were “denied Medal(s) of Honor years ago because of bias” (Straw 2014).