No other state has a richer history with the nation’s highest award for valor than Tennessee, beginning with the First Medals. The Department of Defense officially recognizes 33 recipients from the state of Tennessee. In fact, with the exception of the War on Terror, a Tennessean has received the Medal of Honor in every conflict since it was first created in 1861.

Several other Medal of Honor recipients were born and raised in the Volunteer State, but the Department of Defense credits their action to the state where they enlisted to serve and protect our country.  It’s our shared mission to memorialize and tell these amazing, inspiring and, all too often, heart-breaking narratives of the Medal of Honor recipients – credited to Tennessee or not — as each story truly represents the best and bravest of all who served and sacrificed in defense of our country.