Medal of Honor Podcast

A member of the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Technical Sgt. Tanouye led his men through enemy machine gun and small arms fire to seize the vital Hill 140. Tanouye securing Hill 140 on the German main line of resistance allowed the Allies to advance. Tanouye was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2000. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2ndLt Zussman was one of the three Jewish Americans to receive a Medal of Honor in World War II. With only one working tank, Zussman scouted enemy positions alone to direct his tank’s fire, capturing the French town of Noroy-Le-Borg and taking dozens of prisoners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With his company commander killed in an ambush, and Marines isolated from the rest of the battalion, Colonel Barnum took over the company and defeated the enemy. Barnum used attack helicopters on enemy positions and evacuated his dead and wounded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Marines counterattacked to regain a vital outpost in the mountains of Korea, MCHM Charette shielded a wounded Marine’s body from a grenade blast. When his medical bag was destroyed, Charette bandaged wounded Marines with whatever he could get his hands on, even shreds of his own uniform. Charette was the only sailor who survived to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Korea. Learn more abo...

A first generation Croatian American, Major Cukela was known for his fighting skill. Alone with a rifle, bayonet, and grenades, Cukela flanked a machine gun bunker firing upon his company, killing or capturing all of the enemy soldiers. Cukela was awarded two Medals of Honor for his actions, one from the Army, and one from the Navy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a patrol with several high ranking commanders, Captain Groberg noticed a suspicious individual following his group. Groberg realized the individual was a suicide bomber and pushed him away. After three years recovering from the blast, Groberg was awarded the Medal of Honor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of four Marines on his tractor to make it to the beach alive, SSgt. Bordelon leveled four enemy machine gun bunkers using improvised explosives and saved wounded Marines. Severely wounded himself, Bordelon covered Marines as they landed before being killed by machine gun fire. Bordelon’s actions helped secure the beachhead and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Learn more about yo...

An escaped slave, Color Sergeant Smith fought in the American Civil War’s Western Theater and Sherman’s March. When his regiment’s color sergeant was killed in battle, Smith grabbed the colors and inspired his men despite the fierce enemy fire. Nearly 140 years after the battle, Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During WWII, one day before the landing at Tarawa, Captain Cromwell’s submarine was severely damaged by a Japanese destroyer. Forced between losing all his men as they took water or risking capture, Cromwell scuttled the ship with himself in it, keeping the Japanese from learning about Tarawa or the Allies’ ULTRA intelligence program. Cromwell was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Learn mor...

Ernest Janson went AWOL from the Army and joined the Marines under a false name: Charles Hoffman. Eight years later, at the legendary Battle of Belleau Wood, Hoffman’s actions awarded him the Medal of Honor when he single handedly charged a German machine gun squad from attacking his Marines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Master Sergeant Raul Perez “Roy” Benavidez spent his adolescence working a series of odd jobs in Cuero, TX before enlisting in the National Guard in 1952. He would later join the Army and earn his Green beret before being deployed to Vietnam. It was here that he earned the Medal of Honor for risking his own life to rescue wounded soldiers and recover the body of a fallen soldier and the classified...

2ndLt O’Brien fought in the Korean War’s First Battle of the Hook. After the PVA seized a key hill near the 38th Parallel, O’Brien led an attack through mortar and artillery fire to win it back. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, during a ceremony at the White House in 1953. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LT Capodanno spent 10 years as a priest before becoming a Navy Chaplain and deploying to Vietnam. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for saving Marines and sailors without regard for his own safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After immigrating from Austria, Specialist Sabo served his new home by joining the US Army and deploying to Vietnam and Cambodia in 1970. On a mission to interdict enemy supply lines, Sabo fought off an ambush, saved a wounded soldier, and sacrificed his life to destroy an enemy bunker. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor 42 years later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...

Michael Monsoor was born in Long Beach, CA, and followed in his father’s footsteps to serve in the military. As a SEAL during the Global War on Terror, Monsoor was frequently deployed to the Middle East. While in Iraq in 2006, Monsoor sacrificed his own life to save his fellow SEALs, an act for which he received the Medal of Honor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A childhood immigrant, LT COL Al “Doc” Rascon became an Army medic and deployed to Vietnam. During a firefight,Rascon saved the lives of many soldiers by bringing them back to safety and absorbing grenade blasts. Rascon was so wounded he was given last rites, but recovered, continued to serve, and was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2000. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

Private First Class Fernando Luis García Ledesma was born in Utuado, Puerto Rico before enlisting in the Marines in 1951. García was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine regiment and eventually deployed to fight in the Korean War. While engaged with forces from China’s People's Volunteer Army, García gave his life to protect his fellow Marines, for which he was posthumously awarded the Medal...

Born in Alabama in 1921, Henry Erwin enlisted in the Army Reserve in his early twenties. Erwin was assigned to a bombardment squadron and deployed to the Pacific in World War II. During one harrowing bombing run, Erwin suffered severe injuries while saving his aircraft and all those aboard. His actions earned him the Medal of Honor, but left him with grave injuries that required multiple surgeries...

Ken and the Medal of Honor podcast team are taking some time off for the holidays. New episodes will return on January 2nd. Thank you for your support and Happy Holidays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commander John H. Balch was born just before the turn of the 20th century in Kansas, were he studied at Kansas State University before joining the Navy. Balch was sent to fight in France as the US entered World War I. His efforts during pivotal engagements during the war earned him many military decorations, including the Medal of Honor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

Before enlisting in the military, Melvin Morris lived out a humble childhood on his grandparent’s farm in Okmulgee, OK. Morris’s career began in the National Guard, and ultimately led to him serving in an Army Special Forces unit in Vietnam. It was there that Morris earned the Medal of Honor by rescuing injured comrades and retrieving classified information from the enemy’s grasp. Learn more about...

Captain Francis Brown Wai was the son of a Chinese immigrant and Native Hawaiian who, despite intending to work with his father in real estate, eventually enlisted in the National Guard. He served in the US invasion of the Japanese-occupied Philippines in World War II, where he gave his life in combat. Wai was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross, which was eventually upgraded to the M...

Born in 1841, Alonzo Hereford Cushing was raised in Fredonia, NY and graduated from West Point in 1861. He would go on to fight in some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War against the Confederates. Cushing’s valiant actions would help to turn the tide during Pickett’s Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg, and eventually earn him the Medal of Honor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

Dan Daly was born in Glen Cove, NY in 1873 and first saw combat during the Boxer Rebellion. He later fought in Haiti during the Banana Wars, and at the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I. His bravery in these conflicts earned him two Medals of Honor, a privilege which only two Marines have received. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before enlisting in the Army, Randy Shugart spent most of his childhood on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania. Shugart would eventually be deployed to Somalia as part of Operation Gothic Serpent. His actions while on a mission there would eventually serve as the inspiration for the book, and later movie, Black Hawk Down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices