Updated September 2026 · 6 min read
A Medal of Honor is never applied for. It begins with a recommendation from someone who witnessed the act, passes through every level of the chain of command, and ends with the President — a process that routinely takes a year or more and, for some recipients, has taken over a century.
The path of a recommendation
- The act. A service member performs an act of valor in combat, at the risk of life, clearly above and beyond the call of duty.
- The recommendation. Usually a commander, fellow service member or other witness submits a formal recommendation with a narrative of the action, sworn eyewitness statements, maps and any other evidence.
- The chain of command. Each level of command reviews the packet and endorses or downgrades it. Many Medal of Honor recommendations end as a service cross or Silver Star instead.
- Service review. Awards boards and the secretary of the military department examine the case.
- Secretary of Defense. Recommendations that survive service review go to the Secretary of Defense.
- The President. The President approves the award and, by tradition, presents it personally at the White House — to the recipient or, for posthumous awards, to the next of kin.
Time limits — and how Congress waives them
By law, a recommendation must normally be made within two years of the act and the medal awarded within three years. When new evidence surfaces later, Congress can pass legislation waiving those limits for a specific person. That is how many of the medals in our archive were awarded decades after the fact.
Among the longest delays in our records:
- Philip G. Shadrach — action in 1862, presented 2024 (162 years later)
- George D. Wilson — action in 1862, presented 2024 (162 years later)
- Alonzo H. Cushing — action in 1863, presented 2014 (151 years later)
- Andrew Jackson Smith — action in 1864, presented 2001 (136 years later)
- Theodore Roosevelt — action in 1898, presented 2001 (102 years later)
- Henry Johnson — action in 1918, presented 2015 (97 years later)
- William Shemin — action in 1918, presented 2015 (96 years later)
- Roderick W. "Roddie" Edmonds — action in 1945, presented 2026 (81 years later)
Reviews and upgrades
Several systematic reviews have looked for heroes who were overlooked, frequently because of prejudice:
- In 1997, seven Black soldiers of World War II received the medal after an Army-commissioned study; only one, Vernon Baker, was still living.
- In 2000, 22 Asian American soldiers — most of them from the Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team — were honored, among them Daniel Inouye, by then a long-serving U.S. Senator from Hawaii.
- In 2014, 24 Army veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, many of Hispanic or Jewish heritage, received upgraded awards in a single ceremony.
- In 2015, World War I soldiers Henry Johnson and William Shemin were recognized nearly a century after their actions.
Most upgrades convert an existing Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross or Silver Star into the Medal of Honor after new eyewitness accounts or records come to light.
The ceremony
At a White House ceremony, a military aide reads the citation aloud and the President places the medal around the recipient’s neck. Afterwards the recipient is usually inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, and the name is added to the rolls maintained by the service. Living recipients are invited to join the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
What our records show
For recipients whose presentation date is recorded, you can see how long recognition took on each profile page and in the facts & records section. The most recent awards are listed on the home page and in our RSS feed.