“Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them.” —Thomas Jefferson (1775)
For the last year, a small but incredible staff team from the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, under the leadership of my friend Vince Butler, has been preparing to host the 2025 Medal of Honor Convention — the annual gathering of our nation’s most highly decorated Veterans, their families, and a large contingent of dignitaries. Despite a lot of moving parts with events spanning 120 miles in two states, they, and our MoH Trustee convention co-chairs, Patriot Post history writer Linda Moss Mines and Lynda Minks Hood, pulled it off without a flaw.
Local bias aside, having attended past Medal of Honor conventions, this was by far the best given the historic location — Chattanooga, the birthplace of the Medal of Honor. That assessment was affirmed by many recipients in attendance.
Chattanooga was the terminus of a bold and perilous operation undertaken by Andrews’ Raiders, 22 volunteer Union soldiers from the 2nd, 21st, and 33rd Ohio Infantry, under the direction of civilian James Andrews. Their mission on 12 April 1862 was to infiltrate deep behind the CSA lines, steal a train and take it north, and burn bridges along the way. This would quickly and famously become known as the “Great Locomotive Chase,” from Big Shanty, Georgia, to the Tennessee state line.
Their intrepid actions resulted in the awarding of the first Medal of Honor on 25 March 1863 to Jacob Wilson Parrott and additional Raiders, and others in the years that followed. We now observe Medal of Honor Day on 25 March. Eight of the Raiders, including their organizer, Andrews, were executed as spies in the months following their daring mission. Notably, two of the Raiders, PVTs Shadrach and Wilson, were not recognized for their heroism until July 2024.
What follows is a brief travelogue, and a note about a special observance at the end of this week.
Joining my Medal of Honor Sustaining Fund co-chair GEN B.B. Bell, who had a major role in the celebration this year, we started our week last Monday at the Atlanta History Center, where The Texas, the locomotive that chased the Raiders, has been fully restored.
On Tuesday, after a morning Great Locomotive Chase reception by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, we traveled with recipients to The Southern Museum in Kennesaw (formerly Big Shanty), where the Raiders’ hijacked locomotive, “The General,” is fully restored. After a historical tour there, we boarded a specially outfitted Veterans train provided by CSX and arranged by their board member, LTG Thomas Bostick (USA, Ret.), formerly a commander under GEN Bell. He mentioned that even in retirement, he was nervous taking Bell’s call to make the arrangements!
CSX diverted commercial traffic for the next three hours on the rail line north, following the historic Raider footprints.
That trip included friends Brit Slabinski, President of the Medal of Honor Society; Doc McCloughan; Sammy Davis; Bob Patterson; Jim Taylor; Gary Littrell; Pat Payne; Ed Byers; Sal Giunta; Mike Thornton; Kyle Carpenter; and the most decorated living Veteran today, Pat Brady, among many others.
Along the route, these Medal of Honor recipients were greeted at every crossing by American Patriots young and old, and the rail trip ended with a special reception by Veterans and local citizens in Ringgold, just south of the state line, where The General ran out of steam.
The next three days featured opening ceremonies in Chattanooga, as well as numerous speaking engagements and educational opportunities. This included the MoH recipients meeting with students to promote the six character traits associated with the Medal: Courage, Sacrifice, Patriotism, Citizenship, Integrity, and Commitment. Our Heritage Center’s education curricula are built on those character qualities.
Saturday included local battlefield history tours at our nation’s first National Military Park, the Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP, established in 1890. Chickamauga is the site of the second-bloodiest battle of the War Between the States, the first being Gettysburg. The park itself includes much of Lookout Mountain, home of the Patriot Post publishing office, where four men were awarded Medals of Honor for their actions during the fierce “Battle Above the Clouds” on 24 November 1863.
The final day and week concluded with the Patriot Award Gala, honoring four individuals whose lives exemplify “service before self.”
This spectacular event was emceed by Gary Sinise, with entertainment provided by his Lt. Dan Band. The keynote speaker was Patriot Award recipient and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Our friend Joey Jones of Fox News was honored with the Tex McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism. Country music singer-songwriter John Rich received the Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment. And one of the nation’s leading benefactors of historical preservation, Kathleen Rollins, executive director of the Gary W. Rollins Foundation, received the Distinguished Citizen Award.
Our Patriot Foundation Trust sponsor table was hosted by the Veterans in our immediate family — our son (Marine) and son-in-law (Air Force) — their spouses, and Veteran friends.
I am deeply indebted to our Presenting Sponsor, my friend Chip Howalt with Textile Rubber and Chemical Company, whose inspiration and leadership have propelled the Heritage Center forward since we opened our doors. And again, a special thanks to our organizing team, our co-chairs, and the more than 100 volunteers it took to pull it off.
Today, there are 61 living Medal of Honor recipients among the 3,528 who have received the award since 1863. We were deeply humbled that all who were able joined us last week.
Finally, I mentioned previously that this week will end with a special observance, a fitting bookend to the MoH Convention.
Sunday, 12 October, is the 80th anniversary of the 1945 awarding of the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman to a former longtime Lookout Mountain resident, Desmond T. Doss, whose heroic actions are the subject of the film “Hacksaw Ridge.” While Medal of Honor citations note “above and beyond the call of duty,” for good reason, Desmond’s MoH citation is the only one that notes “far above and beyond the call of duty.”
Patriot Foundation Trust is also a sponsor of the Doss celebration.
Please consider a designated gift to support the National Medal of Honor Sustaining Fund’s character education initiatives through Patriot Foundation Trust, or make a check payable to “NMoH Sustaining Fund” and mail it to:
Generosity Trust
National MOH Sustaining Fund
345 Frazier Avenue, Unit 205
Chattanooga TN 37405
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“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” —John 15:12-14
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