Why a #CivilWar #Soldier will get the Medal of Honor Nov. 6 — 151 years after his death -- First Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing, age 22, was bleeding profusely from wounds to his abdomen and shoulder as thousands of Confederate infantrymen advanced on his artillery battery in the Battle of #Gettysburg. At least one of his soldiers begged him to seek medical treatment, but he refused. He stayed on the #battlefield another 90 minutes while under attack, ordering his men to keep firing their three-inch cannons right up until the moment that he was killed with a gunshot to the head. The Union Army’s ability to stop that assault by at least 13,000 soldiers — known as Pickett’s Charge, after a Confederate general who led rebel troops taking part in it — is a key part of the Civil War’s most iconic battle. But the #heroism of Cushing, on July 3, 1863, was not honored with the nation’s highest award for combat valor, even though 63 other Union soldiers received the prestigious decoration. U.S. officials will rectify that Nov. 6. President Obama is scheduled to award the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony to descendants of the Cushing family, more than 151 years after the #battle. They’ve passed his story down for generations with #pride, but had not considered it possible that Cushing would receive the award, they said. | #Washington Post #news: washingtonpost/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/11/05/why-a-civil-war-soldier-will-get-the-medal-of-honor-151-years-after-his-death/ , and #USArmy web site: army.mil/medalofhonor/cushing/?from=hp_spotlight | #ArmyStrong, #MedalofHonor, #Valor, #Bravery, #Army
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 12:40:22 +0000
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