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Posted in these groups: 
Medal of Honor
Civil War
Military History
American History
Women in the Military
Medal of Honor Civil War Military History American History Women in the Military
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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Okay my friend CW5 Jack Cardwell Mary Edwards Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor before the standards were revised in 1910 with the current standards specified "direct combat with an enemy" to be eligible for the award of the Medal of Honor.
1. Civil War union spy Mary Edwards Walker was awarded a Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson even though she was a civilian and neither a sailor [authorized in December 1861] nor a soldier [authorized in March 1862]
2. Walker eventually switched to wearing men's clothes and was even arrested for impersonating a man several times. In her defense, she argued that she was given special permission by the government to dress that way.
In September 1863, after two years of work near the Union front lines, she was appointed assistant surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland. She may or may not have been acting as a spy at this time. However, in 1864 she was captured by Confederate troops and spent four months in jail in Richmond.
https://www.military.com/history/dr-mary-edwards-walker.html
3. When standards for the Medal of Honor were revised in 1910, Walker's medal was one of 900 rescinded. The new standards specified "direct combat with an enemy" as the guiding criterion for the nation's highest award. Walker's valiant Civil War service as an Army surgeon and her four months as a Confederate prisoner of war did not qualify.
4. She resisted at gunpoint to give back her Medal of Honor. "But Walker refused to return her hard-earned honor. When federal marshals arrived to take Walker's Medal of Honor in 1917, she met them at the door wearing it around her neck and brandishing a 12-gauge shotgun. Evidently the weapon spoke volumes, because Walker kept her medal, wearing it every day until her death in 1919."
5. It was surprising that she was awarded the medal of honor since she was an abolitionist medical surgeon who was captured by the CSA.
6. It is not at all surprising to me that former POTUS Jimmy Carter reinstated the medal in 1977.
I had to chuckle at the Army board in 1977 that cited her "distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication, and unflinching loyalty to her country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her sex." This statement misses the obvious fact that "direct combat with an enemy" is a essential element of the statutory requirement for the Medal of Honor.
FYI LTC Bill Koski CW5 (Join to see) MSG Brad Sand SGM Steve Wettstein SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Miller SP5 Robert Ruck SPC (Join to see) PO3 Steven Sherrill SN Greg Wright Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey TSgt Joe C. Cpl Joshua Caldwell SGT Michael Thorin SP5 Dave (Shotgun) Shockley SPC Margaret Higgins
1. Civil War union spy Mary Edwards Walker was awarded a Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson even though she was a civilian and neither a sailor [authorized in December 1861] nor a soldier [authorized in March 1862]
2. Walker eventually switched to wearing men's clothes and was even arrested for impersonating a man several times. In her defense, she argued that she was given special permission by the government to dress that way.
In September 1863, after two years of work near the Union front lines, she was appointed assistant surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland. She may or may not have been acting as a spy at this time. However, in 1864 she was captured by Confederate troops and spent four months in jail in Richmond.
https://www.military.com/history/dr-mary-edwards-walker.html
3. When standards for the Medal of Honor were revised in 1910, Walker's medal was one of 900 rescinded. The new standards specified "direct combat with an enemy" as the guiding criterion for the nation's highest award. Walker's valiant Civil War service as an Army surgeon and her four months as a Confederate prisoner of war did not qualify.
4. She resisted at gunpoint to give back her Medal of Honor. "But Walker refused to return her hard-earned honor. When federal marshals arrived to take Walker's Medal of Honor in 1917, she met them at the door wearing it around her neck and brandishing a 12-gauge shotgun. Evidently the weapon spoke volumes, because Walker kept her medal, wearing it every day until her death in 1919."
5. It was surprising that she was awarded the medal of honor since she was an abolitionist medical surgeon who was captured by the CSA.
6. It is not at all surprising to me that former POTUS Jimmy Carter reinstated the medal in 1977.
I had to chuckle at the Army board in 1977 that cited her "distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication, and unflinching loyalty to her country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her sex." This statement misses the obvious fact that "direct combat with an enemy" is a essential element of the statutory requirement for the Medal of Honor.
FYI LTC Bill Koski CW5 (Join to see) MSG Brad Sand SGM Steve Wettstein SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Miller SP5 Robert Ruck SPC (Join to see) PO3 Steven Sherrill SN Greg Wright Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey TSgt Joe C. Cpl Joshua Caldwell SGT Michael Thorin SP5 Dave (Shotgun) Shockley SPC Margaret Higgins
Medal of Honor Spotlight: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
Surgeon, POW, spy - Dr. Mary Walker was all of these, and the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor.
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1stSgt Eugene Harless
Walker was never engaged as a Spy at any time, * although she offered her services, which were declined. that is a huge embellishment. She served as a Civilian Doctor who volunteered to aid the Union Army . When she crossed the lines to treat wounded she was arrested ( and initially charged with being a spy, although it was never pursued.. she had been helping a Confederate surgeon with an amputation at he time). She spent 4 months in a POW compound in Richmond before being exchanged for as Confederate Surgeon in 1864. Her medal was awarded for meritorious service, not valor, and the reinstatement of the award was typical of Carter's political endeavors.
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LTC Stephen F.
Granted she never served as a spy but she was treated as one when she was captured by the CSA 1stSgt Eugene Harless - dressing in men's clothing as a woman would have been suspicious
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This was a very interesting piece of history. I didn't know that any women had received the MOH.
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