56 Recipients of the Soldier's Medal

Morton David Alpern, better known as Marty Allen, was an American comedian, actor, and philanthropist. He worked as a comedy headliner in nightclubs, as a dramatic actor in television roles, and was once called "The Darling of Daytime TV". He also appeared in films, notably the 1966 spy comedy The Last of the Secret Agents? During his comedy career, Allen also toured military hospitals, performed for veterans, and for active military personnel.

Clift Andrus was a highly decorated American United States Army general with the rank of major general. He is most noted for his service as a commander of 1st Infantry Division at the end of World War II.

James Leroy Bondsteel was a United States Army soldier who served during the Vietnam War, where he earned the Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor, awarded in November 1973, was the last presented by President Richard Nixon.

Leonard Leroy Boswell was an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Iowa's 3rd congressional district from 1997 to 2013, a district based in Des Moines. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated for reelection in 2012 by 4th district incumbent Tom Latham, who decided to run against him after redistricting. Boswell left Congress in January 2013.

Allison C. Brooks was a United States Air Force aviator who piloted both the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and North American P-51 Mustang aircraft in combat missions over Nazi Germany during World War II. In the Vietnam War, he flew Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft in combat support missions. In addition to earning numerous military decorations, he was ultimately promoted to the rank of major general and served in active duty until 1971.

William Francis Buckley was a United States Army officer, a Paramilitary Officer in Special Activities Division and a CIA station chief in Beirut from 1984 until 1985. His cover was as a Political Officer at the US Embassy. He was kidnapped by the group Hezbollah in March 1984. He was held hostage and tortured by psychiatrist Aziz al-Abub. Hezbollah later claimed they executed him in October 1985, but another American hostage disputed that, believing that he died five months prior, in June. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and is commemorated with a star on the Memorial Wall at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Joseph Maxwell Cleland is an American politician from the state of Georgia. Cleland, a Democrat, is a disabled US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous actions in combat, and a former United States Senator.

Brigadier General John T. Corley was a career Army officer noted for his contributions to Army training.

Bert Cumby was a United States military intelligence officer who served as head of research of the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence Corps and led the debriefing of repatriated American prisoners of war (POWs) during the Korean War. In 1956 he testified to a United States Senate committee regarding an international communist conspiracy he alleged was underway, the objective of which was the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China. According to Cumby, this was to be partially accomplished through the brainwashing of American POWs prior to their repatriation to the United States; they would, in turn, create a nucleus of domestic support for China-friendly policies within the U.S.

Wayne Allan Downing was a retired four-star United States Army general born in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962 and held a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane University. He also served on the board of directors at a private military company, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Theodore Leslie Futch was a United States Army officer with the rank of brigadier general. He spent his whole army career in the Field Artillery Branch.

John Rogers Galvin was an American army general who served as the sixth dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a member of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century.

Elmer John Gedeon was a professional baseball player, appearing in several games for the Washington Senators in 1939. Gedeon and Harry O'Neill were the only two Major League Baseball players killed during World War II. Gedeon flew several missions in the European Theater of Operations as an officer of the United States Army Air Forces before being shot down over France.

Carl Genian was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. During the war, Genian spent eleven months overseas and flew 66 combat missions pursuing numerous bombing targets that spanned eight countries from France to the Balkans. He and his unit received many commendations for close support, pinpoint bombing operations and heroism. Genian's medals include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Soldiers Medal and an Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters.

Hershel Wayne Gober is a former government official and Vietnam War veteran. He served as acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) on two occasions during the administration of Bill Clinton: first from July 1, 1997, until January 2, 1998, between the resignation of Secretary Jesse Brown and the appointment of Togo D. West, Jr. as acting secretary, and the second time from July 25, 2000, until January 20, 2001, after the resignation of Secretary West; this time Gober served in the post until the end of the Clinton presidency.

John Floyd Goodman is a retired United States Marine Corps three-star general. He began his military service with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War — during which he earned the Soldier's Medal, the Bronze Star with "V" Device, and a Purple Heart. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1971, becoming an aviator. He flew over 4,100 hours during his years of service. He retired from military service in 2008, with over 41 years of active and reserve service, achieving a rank of lieutenant general.

David E. Grange Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army.

Lieutenant Edith Ellen Greenwood (1920-1999) served with the United States Army Nurse Corps (ANC) during World War II. She was the first female recipient of the Soldier's Medal, an award she received for saving 15 patients.

William White Hartzog was a United States Army general whose commands during his 35-year career include the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, the 1st Infantry Division, and United States Army South. He was born in Wilmington, North Carolina.

John Michael Hayden is a retired American politician and veteran who served as the 41st Governor of Kansas. He subsequently served as the Secretary of the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department under governors Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson.

Chaplain Patrick John Hessian was a United States Army officer who served as the 16th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army from 1982 to 1986. He was ordained in 1953, and attended seminary at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, MN.

John Drake Hoffman was an American chemist and author who was awarded the Soldier's Medal, the United States Army's highest award for an act of valor in a non-combat situation, and the only one awarded to a member of the Manhattan District. After the war he worked for the National Bureau of Standards, becoming the director of its national measurements laboratory. He was a professor and director of the engineering materials program at the University of Maryland from 1982 to 1985, director of the Michigan Molecular Institute, and a professor of materials science and engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Daniel R. Hokanson is a four-star general in the United States Army who currently serves as the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau. Prior to that, he served as the 21st director of the Army National Guard. His previous military assignments include Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau, deputy commander of United States Northern Command, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, and commander of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Just Cause. Hokanson assumed his current assignment on August 3, 2020.

Donald Walter Holleder was an American college football star while attending the United States Military Academy and later assistant football coach for the United States Military Academy, who was later killed in the Vietnam War.

Robert Anderson "Bob" Hoover was an American fighter pilot, test pilot, flight instructor, and record-setting air show aviator.

Eli DuBose Hoyle was a Brigadier General in the United States Army. He is most noted for his Command of the Port of Embarkation at Governor's Island in New York Harbor during World War I, for which he received the Distinguished Service Medal and Soldier's Medal.

Gerald Richard Johnson was a World War II flying ace who flew for the United States Army Air Forces. Johnson commanded the 9th Fighter Squadron and 49th Fighter Group, and became the fourth ranking fighter ace in the Pacific during World War II. He ended his war career with 22 kills.

Otto Kerner Jr. was an American jurist and politician who served as the 33rd Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968 and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. As a federal judge, he chaired the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, but was forced to step down from the bench after being convicted of mail fraud.

Darwin Keith Kyle a veteran soldier in the United States Army in World War II, Darwin Kyle earned both a Silver Star and Bronze Star for his heroic actions in France and Germany. A Master Sergeant at the beginning of the Korean War, "Gus" received a battlefield commission and the Soldier's Medal during the Hungnam evacuation. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions on February 16, 1951.

Richard Laverne Lawson was a general and deputy commander in chief, Headquarters United States European Command, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.

Charles Andrew MacGillivary was a Medal of Honor recipient, born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. A Sergeant in the United States Army, he was attached to Company I, 71st Infantry, 44th Infantry Division during World War II.

Jack Neil Merritt was a United States Army four-star general who served as U.S. Military Representative, NATO Military Committee (USMILREP) from 1985 to 1987.

Leo J. Meyer was a soldier in the United States Army, one of only three hundred and three men who have been awarded three Combat Infantryman Badges out of more than the twenty-three million men who served in the US Army between December 1941 and December 2007. Colonel Meyer was inducted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 2009.

Henry Andrews Mucci was a colonel in the United States Army Rangers. In January 1945, during World War II, he led a force of 121 Army Rangers on a mission which rescued 513 survivors of the Bataan Death March from Cabanatuan Prison Camp, despite being heavily outnumbered. It is widely considered the most successful rescue mission in the history of the United States military.

Lieutenant Colonel José Antonio Muñiz was a United States Air Force officer who during World War II served in the United States Army Air Forces. He co-founded the Puerto Rico Air National Guard together with then-Colonels Alberto A. Nido and Mihiel Gilormini. In 1963, the Air National Guard Base, at the San Juan International Airport in Puerto Rico, was renamed "Muñiz Air National Guard Base" in his honor.

Thomas Alexander Parrott was an American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer.

Frank D. Peregory was a United States Army technical sergeant who posthumously received the United States military's highest decoration for bravery in combat, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during World War II. In a previous incident, he also received the Soldier's Medal for rescuing another soldier from drowning.

Colin Luther Powell is an American politician, diplomat and retired four-star general who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Powell was the first African-American Secretary of State. Until the election of Barack Obama as President in 2008, Powell and his successor, Condoleezza Rice, were the highest-ranking African Americans in the history of the federal executive branch. Powell served as the 16th United States National Security Advisor from 1987 to 1989 and as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993.

General Edwin William Rawlings, USAF (Ret), was a leading figure in the administrative development of the United States Air Force (USAF).

Richard A. Scholtes is a retired United States Army major general who served as the first commander of Joint Special Operations Command. Scholtes' experience as the commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force 123 during the United States invasion of Grenada made him an important figure in the reorganization of the US special operations community and eventually led to his appointment to the newly formed JSOC. After his tenure as JSOC commander, Scholtes retired from active service so he could candidly testify in August 1986 before Congress about the perceived need for a separate, four-star, special operations command. Then-Senator William Cohen described Scholtes' testimony as vital in the decision of Congress to create the United States Special Operations Command.

Stephen Silvasy Jr. was a major general in the United States Army who served as acting commander of United States Army Pacific in 1996. He is an alumnus of the US Military Academy and US Naval Postgraduate School. He also received military education at the Armed Forces Staff College and US Army War College.

Major General John Kirk Singlaub is a retired two-star general in the United States Army, founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a highly decorated former officer in the former Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Aleksander Reed Skarlatos is an American politician and former US Army National Guard soldier who, along with fellow Americans Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler, a Briton, a Frenchman, and an American, stopped a gunman on a Paris-bound train travelling from Amsterdam via Brussels in August 2015. He was awarded the United States Army's Soldier's Medal from U.S. President Barack Obama. All six, save for the French passenger who wished to remain anonymous, received France's highest decoration, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, from French president François Hollande. The Americans also were awarded the medal of the city of Arras, France.

Wayne Carleton Smith was a major general in the United States Army.

Christopher James Speer was a United States Army combat medic and an armed member of a special operations team who was fatally wounded during a skirmish in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002. Speer, who was not wearing a helmet at the time because the mission called for indigenous clothing, suffered a head wound from a grenade and succumbed to his injuries approximately two weeks later. Omar Khadr was charged and convicted of throwing the grenade that killed Speer.

General Donn Albert Starry was a United States Army four-star general who served as commanding general of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command from 1977 to 1981, and as commander in chief of United States Readiness Command from 1981 to 1983.

Thomas Howard Tackaberry was a lieutenant general in the United States Army. He was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War and was a recipient of three Distinguished Service Crosses and served as Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps from 1979 to 1981."Described as a 'grunt's angel', Lt. Gen. Tackaberry was devoted to his men, not only ensuring they were always supplied for the fight but physically prepared as well. Leading from the front, Lt. Gen. Tackaberry set a high bar for fitness with his men and led them on long training runs", stated Richard Hudson to the 115th congressional session on May 19, 2017. Tackaberry is one of the highly decorated officers in the U.S. Army. He ranks among the 10 most decorated military servicemembers in the U.S. military history.

Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. was a United States Army Major, and a former warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division. He was the source of the ending of the My Lai Massacre of the South Vietnamese village known as Sơn Mỹ on March 16, 1968, alongside and above-hierarchically Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn.

James Edward Thompson Jr. was a United States Army officer. He attained the rank of lieutenant general and was a commander of the 101st Airborne Division and First United States Army.

Major General Clarence Leonard Tinker was a career United States Army officer, the highest ranking Native-American officer, and the first to reach that rank. During World War II, he had been assigned as Commander of the Seventh Air Force in Hawaii to reorganize the air defenses.

MG Alfred A. Valenzuela is a retired United States Army major general who commanded United States Army South (USARSO) at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. He frequently discusses how he overcame his childhood as a gang member.

Leon L. Van Autreve was a United States Army soldier who served as the fourth Sergeant Major of the Army. He was sworn in on July 1, 1973 and served until June 1975.

David Wade was a decorated American lieutenant general from three wars who after military retirement on March 1, 1967, served in two appointed positions in the state government of his native Louisiana. The David Wade Correctional Center, a prison in Claiborne Parish, is named in his honor.

Brad Robert Wenstrup is an American politician, U.S. Army Reserve officer, and Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, who has been the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A Republican, he upset incumbent U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt to win the 2012 Republican primary election.

Lieutenant General Samuel Tankersley Williams was a senior United States Army officer. Williams became prominent in army history for being reduced in rank from brigadier general to colonel, and then resuscitating his career to again advance to general officer rank. He also commanded the 25th Infantry Division during the Korean War and served as commander of Military Assistance and Advisory Group – Vietnam, the predecessor to Military Assistance Command – Vietnam.

Walter King Wilson Jr., was an officer of the United States Army with the rank of lieutenant general. He is most noted as a Chief of Engineers during 1961–65. He was the son of Major General Walter K. Wilson Sr.