# Medal of Honor double winners **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792 "2006-03-02T19:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/1 "2006-03-02T19:04:11Z")
This is something I have thought about on occasion but never got around to posting. I have known for sometime that there are [19 people who have been twice awarded](http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/double.htm) the Medal of Honor. This includes Thomas Custer who earned the award in two separate instances during the Civil War (and later died with his brother at Little Big Horn). Of those 19 there are 5 Marines who were awarded the Army MoH and the Navy MoH for the same action. Why are they still counted as double winners? I don’t quite understand why they were awarded the medal twice in the first place and I know such a thing could not happen today. In case you didn’t know many past winners were later stripped of the award altogether when the records were reviewed and the claims seemed without merit or not worthy of such a high award (mostly Civil War soldiers when things weren’t so tightly controlled). The military is very interested in keeping the integrity of the award. Only one has been awarded in the current conflict and two in Somolia. The unofficial policy is that no one will be awarded two and there haven’t been any since WWI. I have heard several times that John Basilone deserved the MoH for his actions on Iwo Jima but was awarded the Navy Cross instead because of that policy. If they are so protective of the integrity of the Medal why not clear up the confusion and say those five Marines received one MEdal of Honor for their actions? Tried searching but found nothing. If this was discussed before I’m sorry. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/2 "2006-03-03T02:02:48Z")
Smedley Butler’s (Major General - USMC) are for separate actions; the U.S. occupation of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914, [ > [@](#): > > The first award was for his activities in the U.S. occupation of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914 at Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914. But the large number of Medals of Honor awarded during that campaign — one for the Army, nine for Marines and 46 to Navy personnel — diminished the medal’s prestige. During World War I, Butler, then a major, attempted to return his Medal of Honor, explaining that he had done nothing to deserve it. It was returned with orders that not only would he keep it, but that he would wear it as well. ]([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly\_butler#First\_Medal\_of\_Honor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly_butler#First_Medal_of_Honor))securing Haiti against the “Cacos” rebels in 1915, [ > [@](#): > > The Marines tried to secure Haiti against the “Cacos” rebels in 1915. On October 24, 1915, a patrol of forty-four mounted Marines led by Butler was ambushed by some 400 Cacos. The Marines maintained their perimeter throughout the night, and early the next morning they charged the much larger enemy force from three directions. The startled Haitians fled. Dan Daly received a Medal of Honor for his gallantry in the battle and might have received an unprecedented third Medal of Honor but was denied it for his foul language during the June 1918 Battle of Belleau Wood, when he uttered what later became a classic Marine battle cry: “Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?” ]([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly\_butler#Second\_Medal\_of\_Honor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly_butler#Second_Medal_of_Honor))and should have gotten a third during the Boxer rebellion in 1900, [ > [@](#): > > Following one engagement near Tientsin on July 13, 1900, Butler, another lieutenant and four enlisted men carried a wounded officer to the rear for medical attention — a 17-mile trek under heavy fire. Four of the men received the Medal of Honor. At that time, however, officers were not eligible to receive the award. ]([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly\_butler#Military\_career](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly_butler#Military_career)) CMC ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/3 "2006-03-03T02:41:52Z")
Well, in the case of Gary Gordon and Randall Shughart, the Delta operators awarded the Medal for their actions in [Somalia](http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohsom.htm), they died earning it, so there is no chance of them getting a second one. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/4 "2006-03-03T08:17:08Z")
Only [three men](http://www.victoriacross.net/unusual.asp#bar) have won the British equivalent, the Victoria Cross, twice. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/5 "2006-03-04T00:45:13Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Smedley Butler’s (Major General - USMC) are for separate actions; > > the U.S. occupation of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914, > [securing Haiti against the “Cacos” rebels in 1915, > [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly\_butler#Second\_Medal\_of\_Honor]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly_butler#First_Medal_of_Honor)and should have gotten a third during the Boxer rebellion in 1900, > [ > > CMC I said there were 5 Marine double winners who won for the same action (in my [URL=http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/double.htm]cite]([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly\_butler#Military\_career](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedly_butler#Military_career)) ). I did not mention Smedley Butler. The five are: Louis Cukela, Ernest Jansen, John Kelly, Matej Kocak and John Pruitt. Each one received both the Army and Navy Medal of Honor for one brave action during WWI. All are still considered double winners. I assume they received the Army medal because the Marines were under Army control at the time. Since the military has cleared up a lot of confusion and inappropriate awards of the medal in the past I was wondering why this hasn’t been cleared up. Since this thread seems to be going nowhere I don’t expect an answer now. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/6 "2006-03-04T00:53:11Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Well, in the case of Gary Gordon and Randall Shughart, the Delta operators awarded the Medal for their actions in [Somalia](http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohsom.htm), they died earning it, so there is no chance of them getting a second one. There have been 3,460 winners. Something like half of them died during the action for which they were awarded the medal. I’m not sure why you pointed out only those two. I only briefly mentioned Somolia to show how few have been awarded recently. Only 3 since Viet Nam even though there has been several conflicts since then. The most recent award was also given posthumously to SFC Paul R. Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/7 "2006-03-04T00:54:26Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Only [three men](http://www.victoriacross.net/unusual.asp#bar) have won the British equivalent, the Victoria Cross, twice. Thanks for the link. I had some questions about the VC that I was going to post here but I’ll look at that first before wasting a thread. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medal-of-honor-double-winners/346792/8 "2006-03-04T01:14:50Z")
No particular reason, except that they are two of the most recent recipients, and also that I know the man who trained them and admire them very much. And I like the fact that the CMoH is rarely given. It makes it a real honor.