Interim 1920–1940: Medal of Honor Recipients

Between the world wars the Medal of Honor could still recognize extraordinary peacetime heroism, and Congress occasionally authorized it by special act — for example to aviators Charles Lindbergh and Richard Byrd. Other awards from these years honor submarine rescues, aviation exploits and lifesaving at sea.

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.