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04/12/2026

Carlos Carnes Ogden Sr. was born on May 9, 1917, in Borton, Edgar County, Illinois. He entered the United States Army from Fairmount, Vermilion County, Illinois, and by the summer of 1944 held the rank of First Lieutenant, serving with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division.

On the morning of June 25, 1944, near Fort du Roule, guarding the approaches to Cherbourg, France, First Lieutenant Ogden's company was pinned down by fire from a German 88mm gun and two machine guns. With his men unable to advance and taking casualties, Ogden made a decision that no order required of him.

Arming himself with an M1 rifle, a gr***de launcher, and a number of rifle and hand gr***des, he left his company in position and advanced alone, under fire, up the slope toward the enemy emplacements. He did not ask anyone to follow him.

Partway up the hill, a machine gun bullet struck him in the head, a glancing blow that knocked him to the ground. Despite the painful wound and enemy fire continuing at close range, First Lieutenant Ogden got back up and kept climbing. Reaching a vantage point on the slope, he silenced the 88mm gun with a precisely placed rifle gr***de.

Then, with hand gr***des, he knocked out both machine gun positions, sustaining a second painful wound in the process. His heroic leadership and indomitable courage in alone silencing all three enemy weapons inspired his men to greater effort and cleared the way for the company to continue the advance and reach its objectives.

For his actions that day, Carlos Carnes Ogden Sr. was awarded the Medal of Honor. The award was not posthumous. On May 30, 1945, in Augsburg, Germany, Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch III personally presented him with the nation's highest military decoration. Ogden continued to serve his country and attained the rank of Major before leaving the Army.

Carlos Carnes Ogden Sr. passed away on April 2, 2001, in Palo Alto, California, at the age of 83. He is buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 65, Grave 533, in Arlington, Virginia, where the Medal of Honor is noted on his marker.

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04/11/2026

Captain Arlo Laverne Olson was born on April 20, 1918, in Greenville, Clay County, Iowa. When he was approximately ten years old, his family relocated to Toronto, Deuel County, South Dakota, where he grew up and attended school.

He was an Eagle Scout, achieved the University of South Dakota, and was commissioned as an Army officer through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps upon graduation. He entered active Army service in 1941 and was assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, one of the most storied units in the American military. He was 25 years old when he went to war.

On October 13, 1943, during the Allied advance up the Italian peninsula, Olson's company was ordered to cross the Volturno River and spearhead the regiment's push through 30 miles of mountainous enemy territory. The river was chest deep and raging. German machine guns on the far bank were aimed directly at the crossing point.

Olson placed himself at the head of his men, entered the current, and waded forward through point-blank fire. He reached the opposite bank, threw two gr***des into the gun position, and killed the crew. With the first obstacle destroyed, another enemy machine gun 150 yards distant opened fire on his company. Rather than take cover, Olson turned and walked toward it in a slow, deliberate advance. Five German soldiers threw gr***des at him from five yards away.

He killed all five, picked up a German machine pistol, continued forward, closed to within 15 yards of the position, and killed nine more of the enemy before seizing the post entirely.
For the next 13 days, Olson led combat patrols, served as his company's number one scout, and maintained continuous contact with the enemy through some of the most difficult mountain terrain in Italy. On October 27, 1943, he personally led a platoon assault on an enemy strongpoint, crawling to within 25 yards before charging the position under continuous machine gun fire. He reached the gun and killed the crew with his pistol. Watching their commander make that charge alone, his men rose and overran the position with him.

Olson then led his company forward to the summit of Monte San Nicola. When the company on his right flank was forced to take cover under heavy automatic and small arms fire, Olson waved his own men into a skirmish line and led the assault despite a machine gun that had singled him out as its only target, driving the Germans from the hill.

While conducting a reconnaissance for defensive positions following that assault, Captain Olson was fatally wounded. He refused to stop. Ignoring his severe pain, he completed the reconnaissance, personally supervised the placement of his men into the best available defensive positions, and refused all medical aid until every one of his soldiers had been cared for. He died on October 28, 1943, as he was being carried down the mountain. He was 25 years old.

The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously. On September 16, 1944, at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, General Louis E. Hibbs presented the decoration to Olson's widow, Mrs. Myra Olson, on behalf of the United States Congress and the President of the United States.

Captain Arlo Laverne Olson is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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04/11/2026

Master Sergeant Nicholas Oresko was born on January 18, 1917, in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey. He joined the United States Army in March 1942 and was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 302d Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division.

He arrived in France in September 1944, three months after the Normandy landings, and spent the following months with his unit clearing pockets of German resistance left behind in the Allied push through northern France. In December 1944, the 94th Infantry Division was redeployed as part of General Patton's Third Army, taking up positions opposite the German Westwall fortifications.

On January 23, 1945, near Tettington, Germany, Oresko's platoon came under devastating automatic weapons fire from enemy positions on the flanks, bringing the entire unit to a halt. Recognizing that a German machine gun in a nearby bunker had to be destroyed for the attack to continue, Oresko left the line and moved forward alone.

Under intense fire, with bullets striking the ground around him, he worked his way close enough to hurl a gr***de into the bunker. He then rushed the position and, with point-blank rifle fire, killed every German soldier inside who had survived the blast.

Before he could regroup, a second German machine gun opened fire on him. The burst knocked him off his feet and drove a bullet deep into his hip. Bleeding and in serious pain, Oresko refused to withdraw. He placed himself at the head of his platoon and pushed the assault forward. Then, with fire still sweeping the area, he moved out ahead of his men a second time.

He closed on the second bunker alone, crippled the machine gun with a gr***de, and wiped out its crew with his rifle. When it was over, twelve German soldiers were dead by his hand and the objective was clear. Only then, weak from blood loss, did he allow himself to be evacuated, and only after he had confirmed that the mission was successfully accomplished.

For his actions that day, Nicholas Oresko was awarded the Medal of Honor. On October 12, 1945, President Harry S. Truman presented him with the decoration in a ceremony at the White House. Oresko was the only soldier of the 94th Infantry Division to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II.

He went on to live a long and honored life, becoming a familiar presence at veterans' events and parades for decades. In his later years he became the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient. Nicholas Oresko passed away on October 4, 2013, in Paramus, New Jersey, at the age of 96. He is buried at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

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04/11/2026

On May 13, 1968, in the Republic of Vietnam, a young soldier from Willmar, Minnesota made the last and greatest decision of his life.
Kenneth Lee Olson was born on May 26, 1945, in Willmar, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota.

He grew up in small-town America, the kind of place where neighbors knew each other by name and young men answered their country's call without hesitation. By 1968, he was serving as a team leader with Company A, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Infantry Brigade, a unit operating in the hostile jungles and dense terrain of South Vietnam.

That day, his platoon was sent on a mission to reinforce a reconnaissance platoon that was pinned down and heavily engaged with a well-entrenched Viet Cong force. The jungle was alive with the crack of automatic weapons fire. The enemy had dug in deep, fortified inside bunkers, and they were not giving ground easily.
When the platoon overran the first line of enemy bunkers, Olson and a fellow soldier pushed forward on their own initiative.

They moved beyond the platoon's position to investigate a suspected second line of bunkers. They had barely advanced when the jungle erupted around them. Automatic weapons fire tore through the underbrush from an enemy position just 10 meters away. Both men hit the ground.

Olson did not stay there. With no cover and under direct fire, he rose. He exposed his body to the incoming rounds and hurled a hand gr***de toward the Viet Cong position. It was not enough to silence them. The enemy fire kept coming.

He prepared to throw a second gr***de. He exposed himself again, arm drawn back, ready to act. Then a bullet found him. He was wounded. The gr***de slipped from his grip. The pin was already pulled. The device was live and it landed inside his own position, within reach of his fellow soldier.

There was no time to think. No time to reason through a decision.
Specialist Fourth Class Kenneth Lee Olson threw himself onto that gr***de. He pulled it into his own body and absorbed the full force of the explosion.

He was 22 years old. His fellow soldier survived. The men of Company A survived. And according to his Medal of Honor citation, his extraordinary act of sacrifice inspired his fellow soldiers to press forward and completely defeat the enemy force.

On April 7, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon stood at the White House and presented the Medal of Honor to Kenneth Olson's family. He could not receive it himself. He had given everything he had on a jungle floor half a world away.

Kenneth Lee Olson is buried at Paynesville Cemetery in Paynesville, Minnesota, not far from the small towns where he grew up. His name is carved into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

He died on his country's terms, but he lived on his own. In that final second, he chose his brothers over himself. That is the definition of a soldier. That is the definition of an American.

Rest easy, Specialist. You earned it.

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04/10/2026

Staff Sergeant Michael Harold Ollis was born on September 16, 1988, in Staten Island, New York. He served in the United States Army with Company B, 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

On August 28, 2013, a complex and coordinated enemy attack was launched against Forward Operating Base Ghazni in Afghanistan. Insurgents struck the installation with multiple vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, su***de vests, indirect fire, and small arms fire. The attack was relentless.

Staff Sergeant Ollis responded immediately. He ordered his fellow soldiers, who were located in a building, to move to protective bunkers and personally accounted for each one of them. He then reentered the building to check for any casualties before moving directly toward the enemy force that had penetrated the perimeter of the base.

Staff Sergeant Ollis located a coalition forces officer and together the two men advanced toward the point of attack. Both moved without their personal protection equipment and carried only their rifles. Upon reaching the attack point, they linked up with other friendly forces and launched a coordinated effort to drive the enemy back from the airfield and the adjacent buildings.

The fight was fierce and unrelenting. Under continuous small arms fire, indirect fire, and rocket propelled gr***de fire, Staff Sergeant Ollis and his comrades moved from position to position, engaging the enemy with accurate and effective fire. At one point along the perimeter, an insurgent came around a corner and Staff Sergeant Ollis immediately engaged him with three rifle rounds.

The coalition forces officer beside him had been wounded in both legs and could no longer walk. Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own life, Staff Sergeant Ollis positioned himself between the insurgent and the wounded officer. He fired on the insurgent and incapacitated him. But as he approached the downed enemy combatant, the insurgent's su***de vest detonated. Staff Sergeant Michael Harold Ollis was mortally wounded. He was 24 years old.

The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously to his family on March 2, 2026, at the White House by President Donald J. Trump, in recognition of his exceptional courage and complete disregard of personal safety, which stand in keeping with the highest traditions of military service.

Staff Sergeant Ollis gave his life shielding another from certain death. Staten Island, New York, claimed him as their own. The United States Army claimed him as one of its finest. The nation will not forget him.

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04/09/2026

By October 2015, ISIS had turned the town of Hawija in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, into a stronghold of terror. Dozens of prisoners, mostly Iraqi security forces, were being held captive under brutal conditions. Intelligence confirmed that a mass ex*****on was imminent. The order came down: go in tonight.

A combined assault force of U.S. Army Special Operations soldiers and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters launched a daring nighttime rescue operation. The mission was to storm two separate buildings simultaneously, neutralize the enemy, and bring the hostages out alive. Time was everything. Speed was survival.

Sergeant First Class Thomas P. Payne, known to his fellow soldiers simply as Pat, was assigned to lead the assault team tasked with clearing the first building. His team moved fast, hit hard, and within minutes had swept the structure. They pulled out 38 hostages. Mission accomplished, for that building.

But the second building was a different story. Heavy, entrenched enemy resistance had pinned down the assault team at the second structure. They were fighting to get inside, but ISIS fighters were holding the line with automatic weapons fire. Then came the worst possible development: the building caught fire. Whether set deliberately by the enemy or ignited in the chaos of the firefight, the flames began spreading through the structure where dozens of hostages were still locked inside.

Payne heard the call for more assaulters over the radio. He did not wait for an order. On his own initiative, he left his secured position, crossed open ground under direct enemy fire, and bounded to the second building. He climbed a ladder to the roof, which was already partially engulfed in flames, and engaged enemy fighters below with gr***des and small arms. He then descended back to ground level and continued fighting through a breach hole on the west wall.

The main entrance remained the only viable point to reach the locked hostages. But every attempt to push through it had been repelled by the intensity of enemy fire. Payne did not stop.
He entered the building through the main entrance under direct fire. Inside, smoke filled the air, heat pressed in from every direction, and flames moved closer. He pushed deeper and located the armored door, behind which the hostages were imprisoned. He came back out to catch a breath of clean air, then made a decision that defines extraordinary courage: he exchanged his rifle for a pair of bolt cutters and went back in.

Inside the burning structure, with enemy rounds impacting the walls around him, Payne began cutting through the locks on a complex locking mechanism. His actions inspired others. Coalition assault team members followed him into the breach, helping cut through the remaining locks. The effort was enormous, the danger absolute.

He came back out a second time. The building was now structurally compromised, the fire eating through its foundation. His commanders ordered him to evacuate. He did not comply.
Payne went in a third time to make the final cuts. The locks gave way. The door opened. Thirty-seven more hostages poured out into the night air.

He then personally facilitated the evacuation of the hostages, ensuring they were moved to safety, even as the building groaned and shifted around him. And then, one final time, Payne reentered the collapsing, burning structure to confirm with his own eyes that no one had been left behind.

In total, that night, 75 hostages were freed. Twenty ISIS fighters were killed in action. On September 11, 2020, President Donald J. Trump presented Sergeant First Class Thomas P. Payne with the Medal of Honor at the White House. Payne, born on April 2, 1984, in South Carolina, would later rise to the rank of Sergeant Major.

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04/09/2026

Captain Harl Pease Jr. was born on April 10, 1917, in Plymouth, Grafton County, New Hampshire. He served as a pilot in the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, United States Army Air Corps, during World War II.

On August 6, 1942, Captain Pease was flying a bombardment mission over New Guinea when one engine of his aircraft failed, forcing him to return to base in Australia. The 19th Bombardment Group had already scheduled a major attack on an enemy-held airdrome near Rabaul, New Britain, for the following day. Captain Pease had not been assigned to that mission. His aircraft was out of commission, and every reasonable circumstance excused him from participating.

He did not stay behind. Captain Pease searched the base and selected the most serviceable airplane available, knowing that it had already been found and declared unserviceable for combat missions. He prepared it himself. The members of his combat crew, fully aware of the condition of the aircraft, volunteered to accompany him. After flying nearly without rest since early that morning, he landed at Port Moresby, New Guinea, at 1 in the morning on August 7, 1942. He rested for three hours. Then he took off with his squadron for the attack.

Throughout the long flight to Rabaul, Captain Pease managed through skillful flying to keep his unserviceable bomber in position with the group. When the formation was intercepted by approximately 30 enemy fighter aircraft before reaching the target, his wing bore the brunt of the attack. He did not break. By his own gallant action and the accurate gunnery of his crew, he succeeded in destroying several Japanese Zero fighters before reaching the target. He dropped his bombs on the enemy base as planned, in spite of continuous attack.

The battle with the enemy pursuit lasted 25 minutes before the group was able to dive into cloud cover. After leaving the target, Captain Pease's aircraft fell behind the rest of the group. Before he could reach the cover of the clouds, enemy fighters succeeded in igniting one of his bomb bay fuel tanks. He was seen to jettison the flaming tank. His aircraft did not return to base.

Captain Harl Pease Jr. died on October 8, 1942, in Papua New Guinea. He was 25 years old. His name is honored today at the American Battle Monuments Commission Manila American Cemetery, on the Wall of the Missing, in Manila, Philippine Islands.
On December 2, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the Medal of Honor posthumously at the White House to Captain Pease's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harl Pease Sr., in recognition of their son's conspicuous gallantry, valor, and complete contempt for personal danger.

In voluntarily performing that mission, Captain Pease contributed materially to the success of his group and displayed, as his citation reads, high devotion to duty and undaunted bravery that was a great inspiration to the officers and men of his unit.

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04/09/2026

Danny John Petersen was born on March 11, 1949, in Horton, Brown County, Kansas. He entered the United States Army in 1968 from Kansas City, Missouri, and served as a Specialist Fourth Class in Company B, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division during the Vietnam War.

On January 9, 1970, in Tay Ninh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Specialist Petersen was serving as an armored personnel carrier commander during a combat operation against a North Vietnamese Army force of battalion size. During the initial contact, one armored personnel carrier was disabled, and its crew became pinned down under intense enemy fire that included small arms, automatic weapons, and rocket propelled gr***des.

Recognizing the danger, Petersen immediately maneuvered his vehicle into a position between the enemy and the disabled carrier. From this exposed position, he delivered suppressive fire that allowed the trapped crew to repair their vehicle. Despite the heavy fire, he then advanced his vehicle to within ten feet of the enemy’s fortified position.

During the fierce engagement, his vehicle was struck directly, and his driver was wounded. With complete disregard for his own safety, Petersen carried his wounded comrade approximately 45 meters across a field swept by enemy fire to a secure location. After ensuring his comrade’s safety, he returned alone to his disabled vehicle.

With enemy fire coming from three directions, Petersen remained fully exposed as he provided covering fire for the rest of his platoon to withdraw. Standing atop his vehicle, he continued firing his weapon until he was mortally wounded. His actions prevented further loss of life among his fellow soldiers.

For his extraordinary heroism and selfless courage, Specialist Fourth Class Danny John Petersen was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was presented to his family on July 17, 1974, at Blair House by Vice President Gerald R. Ford.

He was laid to rest at Netawaka Cemetery in Netawaka, Kansas.

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04/08/2026

Captain Riley Leroy Pitts was born on October 15, 1937, in Fallis, Lincoln County, Oklahoma. He attended Wichita State University, becoming the first in his family to attend college, and graduated in 1960 with a degree in journalism. He enlisted in the U.S. Army that same year and earned a commission as a second lieutenant. He later married Eula Mae, and together they had two children, a daughter named Stacie and a son named Mark.

In December 1966, Captain Pitts was sent to the Republic of Vietnam. He initially served as an information officer before being transferred to a combat assignment. He took command of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, known as the Wolfhounds, and served as its commanding officer.

On October 31, 1967, just one month before he was scheduled to rotate home, Captain Pitts and his company conducted an airmobile assault near Ap D**g, Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam. Immediately upon landing, several Viet Cong opened fire with automatic weapons. Despite the incoming fire, Captain Pitts forcefully led his men in an assault that overran the enemy positions.

Shortly thereafter, he was ordered to move his unit north to reinforce another company that was heavily engaged against a strong enemy force. As his company advanced, intense fire poured in from three directions, including from four enemy bunkers, two of which were within 15 meters of Captain Pitts himself. The severity of the fire prevented him from maneuvering his company. Finding his rifle ineffective against the enemy due to the dense jungle foliage, he picked up an M79 gr***de launcher and began pinpointing targets.

Captain Pitts then seized a Chinese Communist gr***de that had been taken from a captured Viet Cong soldier's web gear and hurled it at the nearest bunker. The gr***de struck the thick jungle foliage and rebounded directly back toward him and his men. Without a moment's hesitation, Captain Pitts threw himself on top of the gr***de. Fortunately, it failed to detonate.

He then directed the repositioning of his company so that friendly artillery could be brought to bear on the enemy. When the artillery fire mission was complete, Captain Pitts rose and once again led his men forward toward the enemy positions, personally killing at least one more Viet Cong. The jungle growth still prevented effective fire from reaching the enemy bunkers. Displaying complete disregard for his own life and personal safety, Captain Pitts moved quickly to an exposed position that allowed him to place effective fire directly on the enemy. He continued firing and directing his men forward until he was mortally wounded. Captain Riley Leroy Pitts was 30 years old.

On December 10, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Medal of Honor posthumously at The White House to Captain Pitts's widow, Eula, and their two children, Stacie and Mark. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore H. Pitts, attended the ceremony. In presenting the award, President Johnson said, "What this man did in an hour of incredible courage will live in the story of America as long as America endures. He was a brave man and a leader of men. No greater thing could be said of any man."

Captain Riley Leroy Pitts is buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Section A, Row 31, Space 2, in Spencer, Oklahoma. His name is inscribed on Panel 28E, Line 105 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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04/08/2026

He was 20 years old, already wounded, and he stood up in full view of the enemy anyway. What Lance Corporal William Prom did next earned him the Medal of Honor.

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04/07/2026

William Hart Pitsenbarger was born on July 8, 1944, in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio, a small town near Dayton. He grew up there, the son of William F. and Alice Pitsenbarger, and from an early age felt the pull of military service. When the time came, he chose the United States Air Force and volunteered for pararescue, one of the most demanding specialties in the entire American military.

Pararescuemen, known as PJs, are trained to go into any environment, under any conditions, to recover the wounded and bring them home alive. Pitsenbarger trained in parachuting, combat medicine, survival, scuba diving, and jungle operations. He was assigned to Detachment 6, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, operating out of Bien Hoa Air Base in the Republic of Vietnam.

On April 11, 1966, a call came in for the evacuation of casualties from an active firefight approximately 35 miles east of Saigon, near the village of Cam My. Elements of the United States Army's 1st Infantry Division were pinned down against a sizeable enemy force and men were bleeding out in the jungle. Pitsenbarger was aboard one of two rescue helicopters that responded.

When they reached the battle site, he volunteered to ride a hoist more than one hundred feet down through the dense jungle canopy to the ground. On the ground, he organized the rescue effort, cared for the wounded, and prepared casualties for evacuation. Nine wounded soldiers were lifted out that day. Each time the hoist came down, Pitsenbarger could have grabbed it and gone up. Each time, he refused.

After several trips, one of the two rescue helicopters was struck by heavy enemy ground fire and forced to break off for an emergency landing. The situation on the ground was deteriorating. When the hoist came down one final time, Pitsenbarger waved it off. He chose to stay. He was now alone on the ground with the surrounded infantrymen, cut off, with no guarantee that any aircraft could return.

The area then came under sniper and mortar fire. When the enemy launched a full assault, the evacuation was called off entirely. Pitsenbarger picked up a weapon and fought. He ran through intense gunfire to gather ammunition from soldiers who had fallen and passed it to the living. He treated the wounded under fire, pulling men out of the line of enemy fire again and again. He returned fire himself whenever he could. He was wounded three times. He kept fighting. As the battle raged on, the American perimeter was breached. The unit suffered 80 percent casualties. Airman First Class William Hart Pitsenbarger was fatally wounded. He was 21 years old.

He perished saving the lives of the men around him.
For nearly 35 years, his sacrifice went recognized only with the Air Force Cross, the second highest award the Air Force can bestow. His fellow pararescuemen, the soldiers who survived that jungle, and supporters across the country never stopped fighting to have the award upgraded. On December 8, 2000, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters presented the Medal of Honor to Pitsenbarger's parents, William F. Pitsenbarger and Alice Pitsenbarger, who accepted it on their son's behalf.

During the same ceremony, Pitsenbarger was posthumously promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was the first Air Force member to receive the Medal of Honor since the service became a separate branch in 1947.

William Hart Pitsenbarger is buried at Miami Memorial Park Cemetery in Covington, Ohio. His Medal of Honor is held at the USAF Pararescue and Combat Rescue Officer School at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, where it stands as an eternal standard for every pararescueman who follows. He is accredited to Piqua, Miami County, Ohio.

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