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Medal of Honor Quiz

The National Medal of Honor Museum is committed to educating our nation about our nation's highest military decoration and its more than 3,500 recipients.

Click on the "Start Quiz" button below and take our online quiz. See how much you know about the Medal of Honor.

The National Medal of Honor Museum is committed to educating our nation about our nation's highest military decoration and its more than 3,500 recipients.

Click on the "Start Quiz" button below and take our online quiz. See how much you know about the Medal of Honor.

Under which U.S. Presidential administration was the Medal of Honor first created?

George Washington

Andrew Jackson

Abraham Lincoln

Ulysses Grant

Woodrow Wilson

On December 9, 1861, US senator James W. Grimes submitted Bill S. 82 - "An Act to further promote the Efficiency of the Navy". The bill included a provision for 200 "medals of honor to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seaman-like qualities during the present war, ..." On December 21, 1861 the bill was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln signed a separate bill on July 12, 1862 creating a medal of honor for the Army. And on March 3, 1863 the Medal of Honor was made a permanent decoration.

The current Army version of the Medal of Honor includes this helmeted figure at the center of the star?

Goddess of Freedom

Minerva

The Statue of Liberty

Aphrodite

Boudica

Both the Army and Navy versions of today's Medal of Honor include designs with the goddess Minerva at their center (The medal on the left is the Army version). The Air Force version, authorized in 1956 and designed by 1967, places an image of the head of the Statue of Liberty at its center (The medal on the right is the Air Force version).

The first Medal of Honor was presented to Private Jacob Parrott on March 25, 1863. In which action did Parrott earn his Medal of Honor?

The Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Chickamauga

The Great Locomotive Chase

The Vera-Cruz Landing

Battle of Mobile Bay

On April 12, 1862, two civilians and 22 volunteer Union soldiers, including Private Jacob Parrott, stole a Confederate locomotive near Big Shanty, Georgia and attempted to drive to the engine to the Union lines near Chattanooga, Tennessee. "Andrew’s Raiders" did successfully steal the engine, General, but were eventually captured by pursuing Confederates. Eight of the raiders, including the two civilians, were hung as spies and the rest of the Union soldiers were imprisoned. After being exchanged and released, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton authorized the Medal of Honor for six of the surviving soldiers. Private Jacob Parrott was the first to receive his medal - the first ever presented - on March 25, 1863. Thirteen others from the raid would later receive the Medal of Honor.

A significant number of foreign-born citizens have earned the Medal of Honor. Which country has produced more of our foreign-born recipients than any other?

Germany

Great Britain

Mexico

Ireland

Japan

As of early 2020, there are 260 known Medal of Honor recipients who were born in Ireland - more than any other country. Irish-American soldiers and sailors have earned the Medal of Honor in conflicts ranging from the American Civil War to the war in Afghanistan.

Sgt. William Carney of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment earned the Medal of Honor during an 1863 attack against this Confederate fortress?

Little Round Top

Fort Fisher

Fort Sumter

Battery Wagner

Fort Ticonderoga

Born into slavery in Virginia, William Carney escaped to Massachusetts and later joined the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Sgt. Carney made the fateful charge against Battery Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina on July 18, 1863. Carney received the Medal of Honor in 1900 - 37 years after the failed assault on Battery Wagner. His citation reads: "When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded."

There is currently only one female recipient of the Medal of Honor. What is her name?

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Mary Edwards Walker

Lucy Stone

Susan Anthony

Michelle Howard

Mary Walker, M.D. Volunteered to be an Army surgeon at the outbreak of the American Civil War, but the Union Army rejected her due to her gender. Undeterred, Walker performed nursing duties and later acted as unpaid surgeon near the Union front lines. On April 10, 1864 Walker was captured by Confederate troops and sent to Castle Thunder in Richmond, Virginia where she was later exchanged for Confederate troops. Dr. Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor after the war, but the award was later rescinded in the 1917 review of past recipients. It was only later, during the Jimmy Carter administration, that the Medal of Honor was reinstated for Walker.

This is the only US President to have earned the Medal of Honor. The award was made 103 years after he led a famous charge.

Zachary Taylor

Ulysses S. Grant

James Garfield

Theodore Roosevelt

Dwight Eisenhower

Col. Theodore Roosevelt led his "Rough Riders" in a charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War. Roosevelt felt strongly that he deserved the Medal of Honor for this action, but his political rivals thwarted his many requests. On January 16, 2001, Roosevelt finally received the honor he sought during his lifetime.

Outside of the United States military academies, which university or college can claim to have the most attendees who earned the Medal of Honor?

University of Michigan

Harvard University

Texas A&M

Virginia Tech

The Citadel

University of Washington

Harvard University has the most with 18. You can find the names of all 18 recipients engraved within Harvard's Memorial Church. Texas A&M, Princeton, and the University of Washington are next with 8 apiece.

This Medal of Honor recipient is maybe the most famous U.S. Soldier of World War I. An Academy-award winning movie of his war exploits was released in 1941.

Samuel Woodfill

Eddie Rickenbacker

Alvin York

John Pershing

Wilfred Owen

The movie Sergeant York debuted in 1941 and starred Gary Cooper. Cooper won the Oscar for Best Actor for this film. Audie Murphy, who earned the Medal of Honor in World War II, said this movie motivated him to join the US Army.

This World War I Medal of Honor recipient later went on to found the OSS - the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

William Donovan

Allen Dulles

Howard Hunt

Bill Colby

William Casey

William Donovan was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1923 for his actions during World War I. Donovan reportedly refused to keep the medal, saying it belongs "to the boys who are not here, the boys who are resting under the white crosses in France or in the cemeteries of New York, also to the boys who were lucky enough to come through."

At the outset of World War II, President Roosevelt asked Donovan to form a spy-intelligence unit later called the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The OSS was the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

This top Marine Corps fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient was the first commissioner of the American Football League.

Greg Boyington

Donald Yost

Charles Lindbergh

Joe Foss

Tommy McGuire

Joe Foss shot down 26 confirmed Imperial Japanese planes in the South Pacific during World War II - making him the top United States Marine Corps ace and a Medal of Honor recipient. In 1959 Foss became the first commissioner of the new American Football League. He worked to build the league's prominence and led the league until just before its merger with the National Football League in 1966.

The uncle of this World War II submarine ace and Medal of Honor recipient was a long time publisher of the Dallas Morning News. Hint: A prominent plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas is named after the uncle with the same last name.

Richard O'Kane

Samuel Dealey

Eugene Fluckey

Reuben James

Charles Lockwood

CDR. Sam Dealey was one of the top submarine captains of World War II. Commanding the USS Harder, Dealey sank 16 Japanese ships (54,002 tons). Sadly, the Dallas, Texas native and the crew of the Harder perished during their sixth patrol near Luzon Strait. Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas is named for Sam's uncle, George Dealey, who was the publisher of the Dallas News.

Twenty-one members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team ultimately earned the Medal of Honor for actions taken in World War II. These recipients all share this same ethnic background.

Italian-American

Greek-American

African-American

Irish-American

Japanese-American

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was comprised almost entirely of second generation Japanese-Americans (Nisei). Many of the soldiers had family members who were placed in internment camps at the outset of World War II. The 442nd distinguished itself as one of the hardest fighting and most decorated Army units of the war. Twenty-one members of the 442nd, including future Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, earned the Medal of Honor. Nineteen of those awards were from upgrades made in June of 2000.

Lt. Col. Ray Davis from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment earned the Medal of Honor for leading his frostbitten men across snowy peaks to relieve the beleaguered Fox Company during this epic Korean War battle.

Pusan Perimeter

Inchon Landing

Chosin Reservoir

Heartbreak Ridge

Yalu Valley

A combat hardened veteran of World War II, Lt. Col. Ray Davis and his 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines not only had to fight the intense cold but also legions of Chinese troops around the Chosin Reservoir. Facing certain annihilation, Davis bravely led his frostbitten troops through a driving snowstorm to save nearby Fox Company. This action not only saved Fox Company and his battalion, but also allowed the rest of the Marines in this region around the Reservoir to evacuate - or as the Marines like to put it, "advance in a different direction."

UH-1 helicopter pilot Maj. Pat Brady earned the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War for flying a kind of mission codenamed "Dust Off." What kind of mission was a Dust Off?

Medical evacuation

Close air support

Combat troop insertion

River reconaissance

Downed pilot recovery

Over his two tours in Vietnam, General Brady flew over 2,500 combat missions and rescued over 5,000 people flying the iconic UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) helicopter. The code word used for these combat medical evacuations was, and remains, "Dust Off".

Which President has presented the most Medals of Honor? Hint: He said "I would rather have the blue band of the Medal of Honor around my neck than to be President of the United States!"

Ulysses Grant

Woodrow Wilson

Harry Truman

Dwight Eisenhower

Lyndon Johnson

President Harry Truman awarded 119 Medals of Honor during his time in office. Here he is placing the Medal of Honor around Corporal Desmond Doss's neck at the White House.

Staff Sergeant David Bellavia was awarded the Medal of Honor for his 2004 actions fighting in this Iraqi city.

Baghdad

Basra

Kabul

Ramadi

Fallujah

Staff Sergeant David Bellavia (left) was an NCO within Company A, Task Force 2-2, of the 1st Infantry Division. His unit was engaged in intensive urban combat within the city of Fallujah during the 2004 Operation Phantom Fury. Bellavia is currently the only living Medal of Honor recipient from the Iraq War.

Edward Byers earned the Medal of Honor for actions taken during a 2012 hostage rescue in Afghanistan. Chief Byers was a part of this US special forces unit during the action.

Delta Force

SEALs

75th Ranger Regiment

Marine Force Recon

82nd Airborne

SOCM Edward Byers was a member of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group, which is more widely known as the Navy SEALs. Chief Byers actions in support of a hostage rescue effort in Afghanistan on the 8th/9th of December, 2012 led to his being awarded the Medal of Honor - one of seven Navy SEALs to earn the nation's top military decoration.

Which of these is NOT currently a benefit or privilege for a Medal of Honor recipient?

Can choose to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Senior officers must offer a salute

They receive a monthly, additional pension

They fly free on all civilian aircraft

Fully qualified children are not subject to quotas for the US Military academies

According to current law, Medal of Honor recipients receive many specific benefits and courtesies. Flying free on any commercial aircraft is currently not one of them.

As of early 2020, how many living Medal of Honor recipients are there?

124

332

1,251

1,450

Out of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients, only 70 are currently living as of March 2020.

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