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

My locker at the HQMC gym was next to then Lieutenant Colonel Harvey "Barney" Barnum's. He was stationed in Hawaii and went TAD to Vietnam as an A/O when a ground unit got into trouble, and the company commander was killed. He had the pilot land, and he took over the company, and they beat back the attack. He got out of the field, went back to finish his TAD, and then back to Hawaii, where he found out he'd been put in for the MOH.

One day, I jokingly mentioned to him that since he was drawing per diem while on the TAD, they should have switched him to field rates, not BOQ rates, for the three days or so that he was in the field. He probably still owed the Corps for that. He laughed and said no one had ever mentioned that to him before.

The photo above is at a Marine Corps ball years later. I have a photo with him somewhere, but all I could find was this one with my wife.

Often they're injured and NPQ for further service. Or injured in mind and spirit more than body and need different circumstances, all of this on top of not wanting the dog and pony business. I can easily imagine that in today's world that just gets in the way of getting on with one's job.

If I went through a situation half as traumatic as required to get the MOH I would get out.
Then again I got out with 17 years, my only regret was not getting all the way out.

Where did you get your statistics? If they are solid keep in mind the acts of heroism required if the MOH, it takes a toll on many, especially considering they may have had multiple other deployments. Another reason is that they are offered fairly lucrative paying jobs if know by the right Company. Also, Families will pull harder at Soldier's to leave Service the more they are confronted with while serving.

I'd hazard a guess that they were busted up a bit, you get a monthly Stipend, and there's the political part of being a MOH winner. I'm sure it all wears away a bit.

Many good points here, not wanting a career, medically discharged. I have had the honor of knowing several recipients,, one thing they all hated was once the MOH was around their neck, troop time, deployments were gone. No Commander wanted to be the 1st one to announce to the world that they had a MOH KIA. So they were stuck in PR or instructor/training slots till they retired, a slow death for a hard charged who leads from the front.

N=? what are the numbers? You make a statement without facts. Many decide to go back to college, some ptsd? I don't know. But there are those who stayed.

It’s really kind of unfair, not everybody will be a Medal of Honor receipient . I did 23 years of active duty service honorably, with having to search and plead for my benefits. My kids have to apply for financial aid and hope to get full benefits. I did not enlist in a combat arms specialty, I was combat support, as we all well know, most of the ones that get the medal are combat arms soldiers. If you want to make it fair , do it across the board

I wish I knew that before, I tried Section 8 to get an early out!

Probably would be tired returning salutes to everyone, since your are MOH. You pretty much outrank everyone except MOH.