# Can Blair be awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057 "2004-08-23T05:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057/1 "2004-08-23T05:59:38Z")
I’ve [read](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/935490/posts) that Tony Blair is to be awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in the Iraq war. I thought that only people (including foreign citizens) serving in the U.S. military could be awarded the CMOH. What’s up with Tony getting one? ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057/2 "2004-08-23T06:02:24Z")
John Wayne got one. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057/3 "2004-08-23T06:04:20Z")
Wayne got one? Are you sure it wasn’t the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Anyway, isn’t it true that you have to be active military personnel to be awarded one? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057/4 "2004-08-23T06:15:03Z")
The headline is incorrect. Blair received a Congressional Gold Medal, which is entirely different. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057/5 "2004-08-23T06:17:20Z")
This is being discussed in another thread. Blair is being awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. This is its own separate award, and is totally separate from the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is often mistakenly called the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is solely a military award for heroism, and is awarded by the president. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blair-be-awarded-a-congressional-medal-of-honor/261057/6 "2004-08-23T06:18:13Z")
This topic is being discussed in another active thread in this forum, so I’ll close this one and direct further comment to the other: [Congressional Medal of Honor for Tony Blair?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=272456) bibliophage moderator GQ