Chicago is honored to have been chosen as the host city for the 2009 Commit to Courage Medal of Honor Convention!

The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military award presented for valor in combat. Of the estimated 42 million Americans who have served this country in uniform, only 3,447 individuals have received the Medal of Honor and many of those were awarded posthumously. There are today only 95 living recipients and these distinguished veterans have dedicated their lives to providing a better understanding to all citizens about the importance of service over self.

Recipients of the Medal of Honor are members of a select organization - the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Each year these heroes travel around the country and abroad, individually and in groups, for outreach activities to veterans groups, schools and military organizations. At their spring Board meeting in New York, the Society selects one city each year to host their convention. It is at these conventions that more than 60 recipients gather to meet directly with military, veterans, students, business leaders and the general public in a variety of events. In recent years, the Society has awarded the distinction of Medal of Honor Host City to Phoenix, Boston, Green Bay and Denver in 2008.

The goals of the convention are to further the bond of brotherhood and comradeship among the living Recipients of the Medal of Honor and their families, to remember in reverence and respect those who have received the Medal of Honor posthumously and those who are now deceased, to foster patriotism and to inspire our communities and to recognize and award outstanding citizens who promote and perpetuate the principles upon which our nation was founded through their life's work and achievements.