A Message from the Host Committee

Of the over 42 million men and women who have served our country since the Civil War, only 3,447 have been presented the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, many of those have been awarded posthumously.

Today, there remain only 95 living Medal of Honor recipients in our country.

Statistically, only about 1% of America's population will ever be in the same room with one Medal of Honor recipient…a much smaller fraction of that will ever have the opportunity to actually meet a recipient.

To date, the Pritzker Military Library has hosted over 30 of these heroes for our Medal of Honor program. We've spent time talking about their family life and education; their military and civilian careers, we've learned about the military in which they served and the principles they live by that would lead them to, in an instant, react in such a way that defies logic and in every situation, defies any common sense imaginable.

The fact is to each of them, what they did was very logical.
The human quality they have an over abundance of, is "Courage".

There are many definitions of Courage:
* a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear;

* strength to face danger or take on challenges;

* the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain without fear; or simply, bravery.

Recipients will tell you that while they understand courage, they felt intense fear…and it is the ability to overcome fear in any situation that leads one to strength and understanding…with strength and understanding, comes courage. With courage, comes sacrifice.

We learn more about courage in combat from each one of these recipients' stories…

Like Mike Thornton, a Navy Seal in Vietnam who, upon learning that his commander Tom Norris was presumed dead from an enemy ambush, ran into intense enemy fire to rescue Norris and then swam 2 1/2 hours with him and another comrade on his back to safety. When Mike Thornton was awarded the Medal of Honor, he spirited Norris out of the hospital where he was recovering to the White House ceremony so they could be together. Several years later, when Norris himself was awarded the Medal of Honor -- for a covert action known now as "The Rescue of Bat 21" - Mike Thornton was by his side. On that day Thornton became the first recipient in over 100 years to have saved the life of another recipient.

Walter Ehlers spent much of World War II training and fighting side by side with his brother, Roland. Ehlers brought his company out of a Higgins boat a 100 yards off shore and landed just before the second wave in a hail of fire on D-Day at Normandy. He got all his men safely across the beach and, the following day, moved miles in country and, among the hedgerows there, distinguished himself in saving the lives of wounded comrades who came upon intense machine gun fire. He would learn several weeks later that farther down the beach in Normandy, his brother never made it to shore on D-Day.

Or the extraordinary story of Gary Littrell, who, on a hill in Vietnam, began defending against a vicious enemy offensive with 247 men and came off the hill with less than 50. One witness statement said simply "Littrell was everywhere" exposing himself to intense fire during the hours long battle, directing troops, providing radio support, ammunition, evacuation of wounded, …and in the end, Littrell was never wounded...in his words "not a scratch".

There most certainly is another force that looks after us in times of intense emotion. After hearing the stories of our Medal of Honor recipients, I am convinced that courage and instincts in the moment of combat engagement are lessons for the kind of courage needed to survive the challenges of every day life.

That is why our host committee titled this year's program: Commit to Courage…a rallying call to the citizens of Chicago, our students and all members of our armed forces who serve our country past and present…to take the initiative…respond to the challenge…and act responsibly - indeed, courageously; when the opportunity presents itself in our daily lives.

Over the five days of the convention this fall, over 50 of the 96 living recipients will be joining us here in the City of Chicago.

On Tuesday, September 15 at Soldier Field, Mayor Daley will host our opening ceremony. That will be the first of several public opportunities during the week to meet the recipients in attendance.

On Wednesday, September 16, many Chicago public schools and all of the military academies will open their doors for site visits with our recipients. There are numerous other events planned for recipients to address students at Loyola and Northwestern, at fire and police barracks, an assembly at the Swissotel, the host hotel of the convention, and at the Pritzker Military Library where our program will be recorded in the morning and broadcast live on the Internet.

Thursday is a Day at the Ballpark and The Night at a Museum. Our recipients will be guests at the Chicago Cubs- Milwaukee Brewers game during the day and then they will be special guests of the Chicago History Museum that evening.

Following a private day of activities for the Society's meeting's, the convention will close with an outreach day at Cantigny in Wheaton and the Patriot Award Dinner - with Master of Ceremonies, Gary Sinise -- at the Swissotel.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, at the recommendation of the host committee, will present their four annual awards on Saturday, September 19:

The Tex McCrary Award will be presented to journalist and historian Rick Atkinson;

The Citizenship Award will be presented to Richard Duchossois of Arlington Park;

The Bob Hope Award will be presented to Chicago's own Bill Kurtis;

And, the Patriot Award - the highest award given by the Medal of Honor Society recognizing a lifetime of outstanding service to our armed forces, will be presented to Mayor and Mrs. Richard M. Daley.

A special thank you to Mayor Richard M. Daley, our Premier Sponsor Boeing, and our major sponsors: Tawani Foundation, TriWest Healthcare, The McCormick Foundation; our non profit partner, the USO of Illinois; the Union League Club of Chicago and the above and beyond efforts of people like MG John Borling, USAF (Ret), Dan Gibbons, LTC Scott Bleichwehl, MG John E. Scully, AUS (Ret), Richard Bruder, LTC Rick Mills; Major Steve Green; Chicago Public Schools, the team at Winning Systems, and all of the over 30 members on the host committee who are working to make this event a success.

To every member of the armed forces and the leaders of our community and throughout Chicago, please consider making a commitment to this cause and join us. I hope that each one of you will visit our website for more information and plan to be on hand for an incredible week in September when we welcome our American Heroes to town.

Our Medal of Honor recipients have a unique stamp of humility. They will tell you that they are ordinary men…that they did nothing extraordinary… and that they were just doing their job.

And, they will also tell you that they wear their medal for everyone who has ever worn a uniform… and particularly for all those who were with them that day…and especially for those who did not come home.