Why do most recent Medal of Honor recipients leave the military shortly after being awarded it?

I read somewhere a lot of units don't want to have a medal of honor winner in it, mainly because every big shot that comes to that post wants to come to that unit and meet the Medal of Honor winner

In the fashion of a joke from Terminal Lance or Duffle Blog,

They get out to have time for all the high fives, free beers, and women that want to occupy their time.

There are a lot more MoH, they just didn't get the write up to receive it. The ones I served with never mentioned it, I learned about them by second hand info. The ones I know never thought of themselves as heroes. Like most vets we rather try to forget those moments. I think that most of us would react in the same way as these warrior's if we were put in the same position. They should and deserve all they get. Many of the award winners received the award early in their service, and they were not intending to make a career out of the service in the first place.

Too much money to be made on the Rubber Chicken circuit.

I think it might be guilt.... so many died to get the MOH.. they are still alive

It's pretty simple so just think about it. After the Gulf War, I was presented the Bronze Star and was a SSgt and one of my Marines who earned a Navy Com w V were at a CAX and the Infantry Plt Cmdr tried to tell my Sgt how to conduct an In Stride Minefield Breach. Mind you, my Sgt had conduct over 100 in training with live Line Charges (MICLIC) and this boot Lt. just got out of OCS. So in front of his Chain of Command and his NCO's, I not only chewed his ass for not listening, I told him what the fuck was going to happen and to shut his mouth. Didn't sit well with anyone but I was right. Can you imagine an asshole like me as a Sgt. who chews ass all day? Who is going to tell him to shut the fuck up? No one.

John Basilone didn't retire. He was killed on Iwo Jima. Marine General David Shoup didn't retire and went on to be Commandant. General Ray Davis didn't retire after getting the Medal in Korea and went on to command in Vietnam. Maybe Marines don't retire after they get the medal.

Richard McCool earned his MOH as a naval officer in the Okinawa campaign in WWII. When I met him briefly in 1967, he was commanding the Fleet Home Town News Center at Great Lakes. People treated him as just another Navy captain until they noticed the ribbon. .

I know GWOT MOH recipients. One in particular, realty had a hard time adjusting to the attention. He just wanted to be left alone. Deleted his FB, withdrew from the public eye for a while. He's back now and doing well, he just needed some time to get his sh*t together with everything that happened in his life.

For many of the recipients, the means by which they earned the medal may preclude them from further military service.