Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786866624 ISBN 13: 9780786866625

Publisher: Hyperion, 2002

The Congressional Medal of Honor is Americas highest military award. In this remarkable work, the first of its kind, acclaimed 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace looks at the lives of the recipients of the medal and explores what it is that drove them to go so far above and beyond the call of duty. Wallace examines not only their extraordinary feats in battle (plunging into heavy fire, throwing themselves on live grenades, attacking enemy regiments single-handed), but also their lives before and after. Throughout the book, and particularly in his moving introduction, he meditates on the meaning of courage and shows what we can learn from the lives of those who perform amazing acts of selflessness and bravery.

About the Author:

Allen Mikaelian received his M.A. in history, with distinction, from the University of London's Institute for English Studies. He lives in Washington, DC, and serves as a board member and adult literacy tutor with the Washington Literacy Council.

Mike Wallace is a leading force behind CBS's "60 Minutes," which has ranked among Nielsen's top ten highest-rated primetime programs for twenty-three consecutive seasons -- a record no other program has approached. He has won nineteen Emmy awards and countless other professional honors. He lives in New York City.

From AudioFile:

Mike Wallace profiles the lives of several Medal of Honor winners from the time of its creation through the Vietnam War. The stories were researched by Allan Mikaelian but chosen by Wallace. There are a number of small factual errors that do not, overall, take away from the work. However, in his introductory and concluding comments, Wallace spends quite a bit of time discussing the Vietnam War and his legal conflict with General Westmoreland. Most of this has no real relevance to the Medal of Honor and seems self-serving. All of the stories--telling of the only woman to earn the honor, the Kentucky marksman who took out several dozen Germans in WWI, and others--show us something of what courage, self-sacrifice, and duty are made of. The performances of Wallace and the three different narrators are well done. Wallace is a skilled professional. The others perform their stories with versatility and enthusiasm. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine