Medal of Honor
Recipients
Table:
Conflict
Date
Medal count (3,525)
List article

Civil War

1861–1865

1,523

American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients

Indian Wars

1865–1891

426

Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars

Korean Expedition

1871

15

Medal of Honor recipients in Korea

Spanish–American War

1898

110

Medal of Honor recipients for the Spanish–American War

Second Samoan Civil War

1899

4

Medal of Honor recipients for the Samoan Civil War

Philippine–American War

1899–1902

86

Philippine–American War Medal of Honor recipients

Boxer Rebellion

1899–1901

59

Medal of Honor recipients for the Boxer Rebellion

Occupation of Veracruz

1914

56

Medal of Honor recipients for Veracruz

United States occupation of Haiti

1915–1934

8

Medal of Honor recipients for Haiti

Dominican Republic Occupation

1916–1924

3

Medal of Honor recipients for the Occupation of the Dominican Republic

World War I

1914–1918

126

Medal of Honor recipients for World War I

Occupation of Nicaragua

1912–1933

2

Medal of Honor recipients for Occupation of Nicaragua

World War II

1939–1945

472

Medal of Honor recipients for World War II

Korean War

1950–1953

145

Korean War Medal of Honor recipients

Vietnam War

1955–1975

261

Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War

USS Liberty incident

1967

1

Medal of Honor recipients for the USS Liberty incident

Battle of Mogadishu

1993

2

Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Mogadishu

Iraq War

2003–2011

6

Medal of Honor recipients for the Iraq War

War in Afghanistan

2001–2014

18

Medal of Honor recipients for the War in Afghanistan

Peacetime

193

Medal of Honor recipients during peacetime

Consulting the given table as well as the article excerpts provided at the end.

Give the answer to the question: What was the conflict that lasted 20 years also known as ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

The American Civil War ( also known by other names ) was a civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865 , fought between the northern United States ( loyal to the Union ) and the southern United States ( that had seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy ) . [ e ] The civil war began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people . War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States . The loyalists of the Union in the North , which also included some geographically western and southern states , proclaimed support for the Constitution . They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South , who advocated for states ' rights in order to uphold slavery . Of the 34 U.S. states in February 1861 , seven Southern slave states were declared by their state governments to have seceded from the country , and the Confederate States of America was organized in rebellion against the U.S. constitutional government . The Confederacy grew to control at least a majority of territory in eleven states , and it claimed the additional states of Kentucky and Missouri by assertions from native secessionists fleeing Union authority . These states were given full representation in the Confederate Congress throughout the Civil War . The two remaining slave states , Delaware and Maryland , were invited to join the Confederacy , but nothing substantial developed due to intervention by federal troops . The Confederate states were never diplomatically recognized as a joint entity by the government of the United States , nor by that of any foreign country . [ f ] The states that remained loyal to the U.S. were known as the Union . [ g ] The Union and the Confederacy quickly raised volunteer and conscription armies that fought mostly in the South over the course of four years .
The Medal of Honor was first awarded in the American Civil War . President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill containing a provision for the medal for the Navy on December 21 , 1861 . It was to be bestowed upon such petty officers , seamen , landsmen , and Marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war . Legislation to include the Army was signed into law on July 12 , 1862 . While the Medal of Honor is now the highest military decoration attainable by a member of the United States armed forces , during the Civil War , it was the only one . Thus , it was often awarded for reasons that would not now satisfy the stringent modern criteria . For example , Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton promised a Medal of Honor to every man in the 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment who extended his enlistment . 311 accepted , but because there was no official list of their names , the War Department issued 864 - one for each man in the unit . In 1916 , a board consisting of five retired generals reviewed Army awards and recommended that these 864 , as well as others , be revoked . Of the 3,464 Medals of Honor awarded to date , 1,522 were awarded during the American Civil War . The first Medals of Honor were given to many of the participants of the Andrews ' Raid , some posthumously . Andrews himself was a civilian and thus ineligible at the time .
The American Indian Wars ( also known as the Indian Wars or the First Nations Wars ; French : Guerres des Premières Nations ) is the collective name for the various armed conflicts that were fought by European governments and colonists , and later by the governments and settlers , against various American Indian and First Nation tribes . These conflicts occurred in North America from the time of the earliest colonial settlements in the 17th century until the early 20th century . The various wars resulted from a wide variety of factors , including cultural clashes , land disputes , and criminal acts committed by both sides . The European powers and their colonies also enlisted Indian tribes to help them conduct warfare against each other 's colonial settlements . After the American Revolution , many conflicts were local to specific states or regions and frequently involved disputes over land use ; some entailed cycles of violent reprisal . In Canada , 11 Numbered Treaties covering most of the First Nations lands limited the number of such conflicts . As settlers spread westward across America and Canada after 1780 , armed conflicts increased in size , duration , and intensity between settlers and various Indian and First Nation tribes . The climax came in the War of 1812 , when major Indian coalitions in the Midwest and the South fought against the United States and lost . Conflict with settlers became much less common and was usually resolved by treaty , often through sale or exchange of territory between the federal government and specific tribes . The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the American government to enforce the Indian removal from east of the Mississippi River to the west on the American frontier , especially Oklahoma . The federal policy of removal was eventually refined in the West , as American settlers kept expanding their territories , to relocate Indian tribes to specially designated and federally protected and subsidized reservations .
Indian Wars is the name generally used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the native people of North America . The wars , which ranged from the 17th-century ( King Philip 's War , King William 's War , and Queen Anne 's War at the opening of the 18th century ) to the Leech Lake uprising in 1898 , generally resulted in the opening of Native American lands to further colonization , the conquest of American Indians and their assimilation , or forced relocation to Indian reservations . The Indian Wars comprised a series of smaller wars . American Indians , diverse peoples with their own distinct tribal histories , were no more a single people than the Europeans . Living in societies organized in a variety of ways , American Indians usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level , though they sometimes fought as part of formal alliances , such as the Iroquois Confederation , or in temporary confederacies inspired by leaders such as Tecumseh .
The United States expedition to Korea , known by the Koreans as the Shinmiyangyo ( 신미양요 : 辛未洋擾 , lit . Western Disturbance in the Shinmi ( 1871 ) Year ) or simply the Korean Expedition , in 1871 , was the first American military action in Korea . It took place predominantly on and around Ganghwa Island . The reason for the presence of the American land and naval force in Korea was to support an American diplomatic delegation sent to establish trade and political relations with the peninsular nation , to ascertain the fate of the merchant ship General Sherman , and to establish a treaty assuring aid for shipwrecked sailors . When Korean shore batteries attacked two American warships on June 1 , a punitive expedition was launched 10 days later after the commanding American admiral failed to receive an official apology from the Koreans . The isolationist nature of the Joseon dynasty government and the assertiveness of the Americans led to a misunderstanding between the two parties that changed a diplomatic expedition into an armed conflict . On June 10 , about 650 Americans landed and captured several forts , killing over 200 Korean troops with a loss of only three American dead . Korea continued to refuse to negotiate with the United States until 1882 .
The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Due to the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously . The President of the United States , in the name of the United States Congress , has awarded more than 3520 Medals of Honor including 19 second awards to the nation 's soldiers , sailors , airmen , marines , and coast guardsmen since the decoration 's creation in 1861 . The citations highlighting acts of gallantry that received the Medal of Honor have been and continue to be regularly released by book publishers . After the Second World War both the Army and Navy produced hardbound Medal of Honor compilations . Between 1964 and 1979 , the United States Senate Subcommittee on Veterans ' Affairs of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare and later the Committee on Veterans ' Affairs produced a number of consolidated compilations of all Medal of Honor citations to date . Additions and changes to the list of recipients of the medal since the 1979 have been regularly published by the Congressional Research Service . The first Army Medal of Honor was awarded to Private Jacob Parrott during the American Civil War for his role in the Great Locomotive Chase . The first African American recipient for this award was William Harvey Carney who , despite being shot in the face , shoulders , arms , and legs , refused to let the American flag touch the ground . The only female Medal of Honor recipient is Mary Edwards Walker , a Civil War surgeon . Her medal was rescinded in 1917 along with many other non-combat awards , but it was restored by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 .
The Spanish-American War ( Spanish : Guerra Hispano-Americana ; Filipino : Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano ) was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898 . Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba , leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence . The war led to emergence of U.S. predominance in the Caribbean region , and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Spain 's Pacific possessions . That led to U.S. involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine-American War . The main issue was Cuban independence . Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish rule . The U.S. later backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish-American War . There had been war scares before , as in the Virginius Affair in 1873 , but in the late 1890s , American public opinion was agitated by reports of gruesome Spanish atrocities . The business community had just recovered from a deep depression and feared that a war would reverse the gains . It lobbied vigorously against going to war . President William McKinley ignored the exaggerated yellow press and sought a peaceful settlement . The United States Navy armored cruiser USS Maine mysteriously exploded and sank in Havana Harbor ; political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid .
The Spanish-American War ( Spanish : Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense , desastre del 98 , Guerra Hispano-Cubana-Norteamericana or Guerra de Cuba ) was a military conflict between Spain and the United States that began in April 1898 . Hostilities halted in August of that year , and the Treaty of Paris was signed in December . The war began after the American demand for Spain 's peacefully resolving the Cuban fight for independence was rejected , though strong expansionist sentiment in the United States may have motivated the government to target Spain 's remaining overseas territories : Cuba , Puerto Rico , the Philippines , Guam and the Caroline Islands . Riots in Havana by pro-Spanish Voluntarios gave the United States a reason to send in the warship USS Maine to indicate high national interest . Tension among the American people was raised because of the explosion of USS Maine , and yellow journalism that accused Spain of extensive atrocities , agitating American public opinion . The war ended after decisive naval victories for the United States in the Philippines and Cuba . The Treaty of Paris ended the conflict 109 days after the outbreak of war giving the United States ownership of the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico , the Philippines and Guam . The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Due to the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously .
The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany , the United Kingdom , and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain , located in the South Pacific Ocean . At the war 's conclusion in 1899 , the United States was granted the eastern section of the islands , the Germans were granted the western section of the islands , and the British were given the northern Solomon Islands of Choiseul , Isabel and the Shortland Islands that had formerly belonged to Germany . The German half is now an independent nation - Samoa . The U.S. half has voluntarily remained under the control of the U.S. government as the territory of American Samoa .
The Philippine-American War , also referred to as the Filipino-American War , the Philippine War , the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency ( Filipino : Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano ; Spanish : Guerra Filipino-Estadounidense ) , was an armed conflict between the First Philippine Republic and the United States that lasted from February 4 , 1899 , to July 2 , 1902 . While Filipino nationalists viewed the conflict as a continuation of the struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution , the U.S. government regarded it as an insurrection . The conflict arose when the First Philippine Republic objected to the terms of the Treaty of Paris under which the United States took possession of the Philippines from Spain , ending the Spanish-American War . Fighting erupted between forces of the United States and those of the Philippine Republic on February 4 , 1899 , in what became known as the 1899 Battle of Manila . On June 2 , 1899 , the First Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United States . The war officially ended on July 2 , 1902 , with a victory for the United States . However , some Philippine groups - led by veterans of the Katipunan , a Philippine revolutionary society - continued to battle the American forces for several more years . Among those leaders was General Macario Sakay , a veteran Katipunan member who assumed the presidency of the proclaimed Tagalog Republic , formed in 1902 after the capture of President Emilio Aguinaldo . Other groups , including the Moro , Bicol , and Pulahan peoples , continued hostilities in remote areas and islands , until their final defeat at the Battle of Bud Bagsak on June 15 , 1913 . The war resulted in the deaths of at least 200,000 Filipino civilians , mostly due to famine and disease . Some estimates for total civilian dead reach up to a million . The war , and especially the following occupation by the U.S. , changed the culture of the islands , leading to the disestablishment of the Catholic Church in the Philippines as a state religion , and the introduction of English to the islands as the primary language of government , education , business , industry , and , in future decades , among upper-class families and educated individuals .
The Philippine-American War was an armed military conflict between the United States and the First Philippine Republic , fought from 1899 to at least 1902 , which arose from a Filipino political struggle against U.S. occupation of the Philippines . While the conflict was officially declared over on July 4 , 1902 , American troops continued hostilities against remnants of the Philippine Army and other resistance groups until 1913 , and some historians consider these unofficial extensions part of the war . The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Due to the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously . Eighty-six men were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in the Philippine-American War : 70 from the Army , 10 from the Navy , and 6 from the Marine Corps . Four of the awards were posthumous . Among the recipients were Webb Hayes , the son of former U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes , and two prominent Marine Corps officers , Hiram I. Bearss and David Dixon Porter . Bearss became known for leading long-range reconnaissance patrols behind enemy lines and was later wounded as a colonel in World War I. Porter was from a distinguished military family and rose to become a major general . José B. Nísperos , a member of the Philippine Scouts who was honored for continuing to fight after being wounded , was the first Asian recipient of the Medal of Honor .
The Boxer Rebellion ( 拳亂 ) , Boxer Uprising , or Yihetuan Movement ( 義和團運動 ) was an anti-imperialist , anti-foreign , and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901 , toward the end of the Qing dynasty . It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness ( Yìhéquán ) , known in English as the Boxers because many of their members had practiced Chinese martial arts , also referred to in the west as Chinese Boxing . Villagers in North China had been building resentment against Christian missionaries who ignored tax obligations and abused their extraterritorial rights to protect their congregants against lawsuits . The immediate background of the uprising included severe drought and disruption by the growth of foreign spheres of influence after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 . After several months of growing violence and murder in Shandong and the North China Plain against foreign and Christian presence in June 1900 , Boxer fighters , convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons , converged on Beijing with the slogan Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners . Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter . In response to reports of an invasion by Eight Nation Alliance of American , Austro-Hungarian , British , French , German , Italian , Japanese , and Russian troops to lift the siege , the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the foreign powers . Diplomats , foreign civilians , and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were besieged for 55 days by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers . Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation , led by Prince Qing . The supreme commander of the Chinese forces , the Manchu General Ronglu ( Junglu ) , later claimed he acted to protect the foreigners . Officials in the Mutual Protection of Southeast China ignored the imperial order to fight against foreigners . The Eight-Nation Alliance , after being initially turned back , brought 20,000 armed troops to China , defeated the Imperial Army , and arrived at Peking on August 14 , relieving the siege of the Legations .
The Boxer Movement , or Boxer Rebellion , was a Chinese uprising from November 1899 to September 7 , 1901 , against foreign influence in areas such as trade , politics , religion and technology that occurred in China during the final years of the Manchu rule ( Qing Dynasty ) . The members of the Chinese Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists were simply called boxers by the Westerners due to the martial arts and calisthenics they practiced . It began as an anti-foreign , anti-imperialist , peasant-based movement that attacked foreigners who were building railroads and violating Feng shui . Christians who they felt were responsible for foreign domination of China were also targeted . In June 1900 , the Boxers invaded Beijing and killed 230 non-Chinese . The Qing commander in chief Ronglu expelled the Boxers from the city . The Qing ordered foreign diplomats and personnel to leave to Tianjin but they refused and stay put in the legation quarter of Beijing . After the foreign attack at the Battle of Taku Forts ( 1900 ) and the foreign invasion in the Seymour Expedition the government of Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the Kansu Braves to surround the foreign diplomats , civilians , soldiers and some Chinese Christians in the legation quarter . The siege lasted 55 days until a multinational coalition rushed 20,000 troops to their rescue in the Gaselee Expedition . The Chinese government was forced to indemnify the victims and make many additional concessions . Subsequent reforms implemented after the crisis of 1900 laid the foundation for the end of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the modern Chinese Republic . The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces .
The United States occupation of Veracruz began with the Battle of Veracruz and lasted for seven months , as a response to the Tampico Affair of April 9 , 1914 . The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States , and was related to the ongoing Mexican Revolution .
The United States occupation of the Mexican port of Veracruz lasted for seven months in 1914 and occurred in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States , related to the ongoing Mexican Revolution . In response to the Tampico Affair , President Woodrow Wilson ordered the U.S. Navy to prepare for the occupation of the port of Veracruz . While waiting for authorization of Congress to carry out such action , Wilson was alerted to a German delivery of weapons for Victoriano Huerta due to arrive to the port on April 21 . As a result , Wilson issued an immediate order to seize the port 's customs office and confiscate the weaponry . The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Due to the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously . Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels ordered that 56 Medals of Honor be awarded to participants in the occupation of Veracruz , the most for any single action before or since . In total 63 Medals of Honor were received for actions during the occupation ; 1 Army , 9 to members of the United States Marine Corps and 53 to Navy personnel .
The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28 , 1915 , when 330 US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince , Haiti , on the authority of US President Woodrow Wilson . The first invasion forces had already disembarked from USS Montana on January 27 , 1914 . The July intervention took place following the murder of dictator President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam by insurgents angered by his political murders of elite opposition . The occupation ended on August 1 , 1934 , after President Franklin D. Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement . The last contingent of US Marines departed on August 15 , 1934 , after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde d'Haïti .
The first United States occupation of the Dominican Republic lasted from 1916 to 1924 . It was one of the many interventions in Latin America undertaken by the military forces of the United States in the 20th century . On the 13 May 1916 , Rear Admiral William B. Caperton forced the Dominican Republic 's Secretary of War Desiderio Arias , who had seized power from Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra , to leave Santo Domingo by threatening the city with naval bombardment .
World War I ( often abbreviated as WWI or WW1 ) , also known as the First World War or the Great War , was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 . Contemporaneously described as the war to end all wars , it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel , including 60 million Europeans , making it one of the largest wars in history . It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history , with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war , while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide . On 28 June 1914 , Gavrilo Princip , a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist , assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , leading to the July Crisis . In response , on 23 July , Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia . Serbia 's reply failed to satisfy the Austrians , and the two moved to a war footing . A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in the Balkans to one involving most of Europe . By July 1914 , the great powers of Europe were divided into two coalitions : the Triple Entente - consisting of France , Russia , and Britain - and the Triple Alliance of Germany , Austria-Hungary , and Italy ( the Triple Alliance was only defensive in nature , allowing Italy to stay out of the war until April 1915 , when it joined the Allied Powers after its relations with Austria-Hungary deteriorated ) . Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and , after Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28 July , approved partial mobilisation . Full Russian mobilisation was announced on the evening of 30 July ; on the 31st , Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same , while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within twelve hours . When Russia failed to comply , Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of Austria-Hungary , with Austria-Hungary following suit on 6 August ; France ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on 2 August . German strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to rapidly concentrate the bulk of its army in the West to defeat France within six weeks , then shift forces to the East before Russia could fully mobilise ; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan .
World War I ( also known as the First World War and the Great War ) was a global military conflict that embroiled most of the world 's great powers , assembled in two opposing alliances : the Entente and the Central Powers . The immediate cause of the war was the June 28 , 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand , heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne , by Gavrilo Princip , a Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Black Hand . The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against Serbia activated a series of alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations . Within a month , much of Europe was in a state of open warfare , resulting in the mobilization of more than 65 million European soldiers , and more than 40 million casualties - including approximately 20 million deaths by the end of the war . When World War I broke out , the United States maintained a policy of isolationism , avoiding conflict while trying to negotiate peace between the warring nations . However , when a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania in 1915 , with 128 Americans aboard , U.S. President Woodrow Wilson demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships . Germany complied and Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement . He repeatedly warned that the U.S. would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare , in violation of international law . By the time the United States of America entered the war in 1917 - three years after the first shots were fired - several Americans had already gone to fight as pilots by joining the Royal Flying Corps . These pilots reported to Canada , and after flight training were sent to fight as officers in the British military . The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States .
The United States occupation of Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933 was part of the Banana Wars , when the US military intervened in various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934 . The formal occupation began in 1912 , even though there were various other assaults by the U.S. in Nicaragua throughout this period . American military interventions in Nicaragua were designed to stop any other nation except the United States of America from building a Nicaraguan Canal . Nicaragua assumed a quasi-protectorate status under the 1916 Bryan-Chamorro Treaty . President Herbert Hoover ( 1929-1933 ) opposed the relationship . Finally in 1933 President Franklin D Roosevelt , invoking his new Good Neighbor policy ended American intervention .
World War II ( often abbreviated to WWII or WW2 ) , also known as the Second World War , was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 . The vast majority of the world 's countries - including all the great powers - eventually formed two opposing military alliances : the Allies and the Axis . A state of total war emerged , directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries . The major participants threw their entire economic , industrial , and scientific capabilities behind the war effort , blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources . World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history , marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities , most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China . It included massacres , the genocide of the Holocaust , strategic bombing , premeditated death from starvation and disease , and the only use of nuclear weapons in war . Japan , which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific , was at war with China by 1937 , [ b ] though neither side had declared war on the other . World War II is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 , with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom . From late 1939 to early 1941 , in a series of campaigns and treaties , Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe , and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan . Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 , Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours , Poland , Finland , Romania and the Baltic states . Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa , and the Fall of France in mid 1940 , the war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the British Empire . War in the Balkans , the aerial Battle of Britain , the Blitz , and the long Battle of the Atlantic followed .
This is a list of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II . The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States or an opposing foreign force . Due to the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously . World War II , or the Second World War , was a global military conflict , the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts . The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War ; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German and Soviet invasion of Poland . This global conflict split the majority of the world 's nations into two opposing military alliances : the Allies and the Axis powers . The United States was drawn into World War II on December 8 , 1941 , a day after the Axis-member Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu that killed almost 2,500 people in what was considered the biggest peacetime loss on American soil inflicted by foreign people at that time . For actions during World War II , 472 United States military personnel received the Medal of Honor . Seventeen of these were Japanese-Americans fighting in both Europe and the Pacific , many of which were upgraded from Distinguished Service Crosses during the Clinton administration . Additionally , Douglas Albert Munro was the only serviceman from the United States Coast Guard in United States military history to receive the Medal for his actions during the war . The earliest action for which a U.S. serviceman earned a World War II Medal of Honor was the attack on Pearl Harbor , for which 17 U.S. servicemen were awarded a Medal , although they did so while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force rather than enemy since the United States was neutral during the events of December 7 , 1941 .
The Korean War ( in South Korean Korean : 한국전쟁 ; Hanja : 韓國戰爭 ; RR : Hanguk Jeonjaeng , Korean War ; in North Korean Korean : 조국해방전쟁 ; Hanja : 祖國解放戰爭 ; MR : Choguk haebang chŏnjaeng , Fatherland Liberation War ; 25 June 1950 - 27 July 1953 ) [ b ] was a war between North Korea ( with the support of China and the Soviet Union ) and South Korea ( with the support of the United Nations , principally from the United States ) . The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea . At the end of World War II , the Soviet Union and the United States liberated Korea from imperial Japanese colonial control on 15 August 1945 . After the war had ended , Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into two zones of occupation , the Soviets administered the northern half and the Americans administered the southern half . With the border set at the 38th parallel in 1948 , two sovereign states were established as a result of geopolitical tensions of the Cold War ( between the Soviet Union and the United States ) . A socialist state was established in the north under the communist leadership of Kim Il-sung and a capitalist state in the south under the anti-communist leadership of Syngman Rhee . Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea , and neither accepted the border as permanent . The conflict escalated into warfare when North Korean military ( KPA ) forces - supported by the Soviet Union and China - crossed the border and advanced into South Korea on 25 June 1950 . The United Nations Security Council authorized the formation of the United Nations Command and the dispatch of forces to Korea to repel what was recognized as a North Korean invasion . Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force , with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel . After the first two months of war , South Korean Army ( ROKA ) and the US forces rapidly dispatched to Korea were on the point of defeat . As a result , the ROKA and US troops retreated to a small area behind a defensive line known as the Pusan Perimeter .
This list represents all of the 145 United States military personnel who received the Medal of Honor for valor in combat during the Korean War . 103 Medals of Honor were awarded posthumously . The Korean War was an escalation of border clashes between two rival Korean regimes ( each of which was supported by external powers ) with each Korean regime trying to topple the other through political and guerrilla tactics . In a very narrow sense , some may refer to it as a civil war , though many other factors were at play . After failing to strengthen their cause in the free elections held in South Korea during May 1950 and the refusal of South Korea to hold new elections per North Korean demands , the communist North Korean Army moved south on June 25 , 1950 to attempt to reunite the Korean peninsula , which had been formally divided since 1948 . The conflict was then expanded by the United States and the Soviet Union 's involvement as part of the larger Cold War . The main hostilities were during the period from June 25 , 1950 until the armistice was signed on July 27 , 1953 .
The Vietnam War ( Vietnamese : Chiến tranh Việt Nam ) , also known as the Second Indochina War , and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America ( Vietnamese : Kháng chiến chống Mỹ ) or simply the American War , was a conflict in Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 [ A 1 ] to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 . It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam . North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union , China , and other communist allies ; South Vietnam was supported by the United States , South Korea , the Philippines , Australia , Thailand and other anti-communist allies . The war , considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some , lasted 19 years , with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973 , and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War , which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975 . The conflict emerged from the First Indochina War against the communist-led Viet Minh . [ A 4 ] Most of the funding for the French war effort was provided by the U.S. After the French quit Indochina in 1954 , the US assumed financial and military support for the South Vietnamese state . The Việt Cộng , also known as Front national de libération du Sud-Viêt Nam or NLF ( the National Liberation Front ) , a South Vietnamese common front under the direction of North Vietnam , initiated a guerrilla war in the south . North Vietnam had also invaded Laos in the mid-1950s in support of insurgents , establishing the Ho Chi Minh Trail to supply and reinforce the Việt Cộng . :16 U.S. involvement escalated under President John F. Kennedy through the MAAG program from just under a thousand military advisors in 1959 to 16,000 in 1963.:131 By 1963 , the North Vietnamese had sent 40,000 soldiers to fight in South Vietnam . :16 North Vietnam was heavily backed by the USSR and the People 's Republic of China . China also sent hundreds of PLA servicemen to North Vietnam to serve in air-defense and support roles . :371-4 By 1964 , there were 23,000 US advisors in South Vietnam .
The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipients must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Due to the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously . The Vietnam War , ( also known as the Second Indochina War , Vietnam Conflict , and in Vietnam as the American War ) , took place from 1955 to 1975 . The war was fought between the Communist-supported Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the United States-supported Republic of Vietnam , beginning with the presence of a small number of US military advisors in 1955 and escalating into direct US involvement in a ground war in 1965 . US combat forces were withdrawn in early 1973 pursuant to the Paris Peace Accords , but the war continued concluding with the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 . During the Vietnam War and in the following twelve months , 235 Medals of Honor were awarded and since 1978 a further 26 awards have been presented . Of the total of 261 awards , 174 were to the US Army , 15 to the US Navy , 58 to the USMC and 14 to the USAF . These totals do not include the award to the Vietnam Unknown Soldier . The first Medal of Honor presentation for Vietnam was to Captain Roger Donlon for actions on 6 July 1964 as commanding officer of the U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment defending Camp Nam Dong against a Viet Cong attack . The last actions to earn a Medal of Honor in this war were those of Bud Day , for actions as a prisoner of war from 26 August 1967 through 14 March 1973 . Day and three others were presented with the Medal of Honor by President Ford at the White House on March , 4 , 1976 .
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship , USS Liberty , by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats , on 8 June 1967 , during the Six-Day War . The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members ( naval officers , seamen , two marines , and one civilian ) , wounded 171 crew members , and severely damaged the ship . At the time , the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula , about 25.5 nmi ( 29.3 mi ; 47.2 km ) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish . Israel apologized for the attack , saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship . Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship 's identity . Others , including survivors of the attack , have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate . In May 1968 , the Israeli government paid US $ 3.32 million ( equivalent to US $ 24.4 million in 2019 ) to the U.S. government in compensation for the families of the 34 men killed in the attack . In March 1969 , Israel paid a further $ 3.57 million ( $ 24.9 million in 2019 ) to the men who had been wounded . In December 1980 , it agreed to pay $ 6 million ( $ 18.6 million in 2019 ) as the final settlement for material damage to Liberty itself plus 13 years of interest .
The Battle of Mogadishu ( Somali : Maalintii Rangers , lit . 'Day of the Rangers ' ) was part of Operation Gothic Serpent . It was fought on 3-4 October 1993 , in Mogadishu , Somalia , between forces of the United States - supported by UNOSOM II - and Somali militiamen loyal to the self-proclaimed president-to-be Mohamed Farrah Aidid . [ citation needed ] The initial Joint Special Operations Command force , Task Force Ranger , was a collaboration of various elite special forces units from the United States Army Special Operations Command , the Air Force Special Operations Command , and the United States Naval Special Warfare Command . It consisted mostly of members from the 75th Ranger Regiment and Delta Force . [ citation needed ] Task Force Ranger was dispatched to seize two of Aidid 's high-echelon lieutenants during a meeting in the city . The goal of the operation was achieved , although conditions spiraled into the deadly Battle of Mogadishu . The initial operation of 3 October 1993 , intended to last an hour , became an overnight standoff and rescue operation extending into the daylight hours of 4 October 1993 . [ citation needed ]
The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . The recipients must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Since the April 1975 end of American presence in Vietnam , the United States military has been involved in a number of conflicts and peacekeeping activities , including actions in the invasion of Grenada , Lebanese Civil War , invasion of Panama , the Yugoslav Wars , the Somali Civil War and elsewhere . Following the September 11 attacks , the United States entered into a War on Terror against militant Islamists , the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War . The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 26 U.S. servicemen for actions since Vietnam , fifteen to living recipients . The first post-Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients were two Delta Force snipers who volunteered to defend a downed helicopter pilot in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia ; the medals were awarded posthumously .
The Iraq War [ nb 1 ] was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein . The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government . An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict . US troops were officially withdrawn in 2009 but are still fighting in Iraq , most of them having been redeployed following the spread of the Syrian Civil War and the territorial gains of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant . Many former soldiers are employed by defence contractors and private military companies . The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition ; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue . The invasion occurred as part of the George W. Bush administration 's War on Terror , following the September 11 attacks . In October 2002 , Congress authorized President Bush to use military force against Iraq should he choose to . The Iraq War began on 20 March 2003 , when the U.S. , joined by the U.K. and several coalition allies , launched a shock and awe bombing campaign . Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as U.S.-led forces swept through the country . The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba'athist government ; Saddam Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year and executed three years later . The power vacuum following Saddam 's demise and the mismanagement of the Coalition Provisional Authority led to widespread civil war between Shias and Sunnis , as well as a lengthy insurgency against coalition forces .
The War in Afghanistan ( also called the US War in Afghanistan , Afghanistan War , or Fourth Anglo-Afghan War ) , code named Operation Enduring Freedom ( 2001-14 ) and Operation Freedom 's Sentinel ( 2015-present ) , following the United States invasion of Afghanistan of 7 October 2001 , when the United States of America and its allies successfully drove the Taliban from power in order to deny al-Qaeda a safe base of operations in Afghanistan . Since the initial objectives were completed , a coalition of over 40 countries ( including all NATO members ) formed a security mission in the country . The war has since mostly involved US and allied Afghan government troops battling Taliban insurgents . The war in Afghanistan is the longest war in US history . Following the September 11 attacks in 2001 on the US , which President George W. Bush blamed on Osama bin Laden who was living or hiding in Afghanistan and had already been wanted since 1998 , President Bush demanded that the Taliban , who were de facto ruling the country , hand over bin Laden . The Taliban declined to extradite him unless they were provided clear evidence of his involvement in the attacks , which the US refused to provide and dismissed as a delaying tactic and then on 7 October 2001 launched Operation Enduring Freedom with the United Kingdom . To justify the War , the Bush administration claimed that Afghanistan only had selective sovereignty , and that intervention was necessary because the Taliban threatened the sovereignty of other states . The two were later joined by other forces , including the Northern Alliance - the Afghan opposition which had been fighting the Taliban in the ongoing civil war since 1996 . By December 2001 , the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies were mostly defeated in the country , and at the Bonn Conference new Afghan interim authorities ( mostly from the Northern Alliance ) elected Hamid Karzai to head the Afghan Interim Administration . The United Nations Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) to assist the new authority with securing Kabul , which after a 2002 loya jirga ( grand assembly ) became the Afghan Transitional Administration . A nationwide rebuilding effort was also made following the end of the totalitarian Taliban regime . In the popular elections of 2004 , Karzai was elected president of the country , now named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan .
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence . In a social sense , peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict ( such as war ) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups . Throughout history leaders have used peacemaking and diplomacy to establish a certain type of behavioral restraint that has resulted in the establishment of regional peace or economic growth through various forms of agreements or peace treaties . Such behavioral restraint has often resulted in the reduction of conflicts , greater economic interactivity , and consequently substantial prosperity . Psychological peace ( such as a peaceful thinking and emotions ) is perhaps less well defined yet often a necessary precursor to establishing behavioral peace . Peaceful behavior sometimes results from a peaceful inner disposition . Some have expressed the belief that peace can be initiated with a certain quality of inner tranquility that does not depend upon the uncertainties of daily life for its existence . The acquisition of such a peaceful internal disposition for oneself and others can contribute to resolving of otherwise seemingly irreconcilable competing interests .
Prior to 1963 , the Medal of Honor could be awarded for actions not involving direct combat with an enemy of the United States or opposing foreign force [ s ] ( actions against a party in which the U.S. is not directly engaged in war with ) . 193 men earned the medal in this way . Most of the non-combat medals were awarded to members of the United States Navy for their actions during boiler explosions , man-overboard incidents , and other hazards of naval service . The last award for valor not in combat was Francis P. Hammerberg , a United States Navy diver who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for rescuing two fellow divers at Pearl Harbor in the then Territory of Hawaii . He lost his life during rescue operations on February 17 , 1945 . Given in the list below are the place and date of each recipient 's Medal of Honor action , as well as their rank at the time of the action . A posthumous award is denoted by an asterisk after the recipient 's name .