Interim 1865–1870: Medal of Honor Recipients

In the years immediately after the Civil War, a handful of Medals of Honor recognized acts of courage outside declared hostilities.

Until 1942 the Medal of Honor could be awarded for heroism that had nothing to do with combat. Most peacetime or “interim” medals went to sailors who plunged into rough seas to save shipmates, fought shipboard fires, or stayed at their posts through boiler explosions — acts of courage that the modern, combat-only criteria would recognize with lifesaving decorations instead.