Honor and Valor

This week, 23-year-old Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor for his military service in Afghanistan. He is one of six who have received the distinction during the war in Afghanistan.  Meyer defied orders to stand down and instead charged into heavy combat five times, saving the lives of 36 Americans and Afghans in the process.  The Medal of Honor is the military's highest decoration and has been awarded since 1861. 

Read about others who have received this honor: 

• Black Valor: Buffalo Soldiers and the Medal of Honor, 1870-1898 by Frank N. Schubert
• Valor Across the Lone Star : The Congressional Medal of Honor in Frontier Texas by Charles M. Neal Jr
• America's Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan edited by James H. Willbanks
• Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier; photographs by Nick Del Calzo
• Beyond Glory : Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words: Extraordinary Stories of Courage from World War II to Vietnam by Larry Smith