Trump's Medal of Shame – The Atlantic

Former President Donald Trump sparked near-universal criticism last week when he said the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, was “far better” than the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor. Trump made the remark during an event at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate about anti-Semitism, drawing attention to the work of Miriam Adelson — the widow of his friend, casino magnate and major donor Sheldon Adelson — who received the Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2018. Trump's bizarre logic was that many Medal of Honor recipients were in “bad shape” because of their wounds or received the award posthumously, and that the Medal of Freedom was better because a “healthy, beautiful woman” like Miriam Adelson could receive it.

I wrote numerous awards for valor during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Deciding whether acts such as rescuing a friend from an ambush, attacking an enemy position, or leading a daring raid are worthy of a Silver Star, a Navy Cross, or perhaps the Medal of Honor is a particularly challenging task. The first time I had to write an award for valor, I was a 24-year-old Marine lieutenant in Fallujah. We had already been in sustained urban warfare for two weeks when the order came from headquarters to begin writing our awards. The battle wasn't even over. Marines were still being killed. Still, the sergeants and corporals in my platoon scribbled their recommendations on scraps of paper, and I wrote them down between firefights on our company's only laptop, a Toughbook that we kept charged with a gasoline-powered generator.

My company commander at the time—a captain who seemed infinitely old and wise at 30—explained to me his philosophy on writing awards. He suggested that if I couldn't figure out whether a Marine deserved a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, or something even higher, I should imagine the day in the future when we would all be standing in formation for the awards ceremony. He encouraged me to aim for the highest valor award possible, as long as no one in formation would chuckle quietly that the award was undeserved. This proved to be good advice, and one I followed over the years.

Awards for valor recognize what is probably the worst day of a person's life. This is especially true when a person is nominated for the highest awards – the Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross or Medal of Honor. These are not awarded after a deployment where everything went well and everyone came home.

The approval process for these awards is arduous and handled slightly differently by each branch of the service. The Marine Corps requires a “Summary of Actions,” a lengthy document detailing what happened and why it deserves the award. This is followed by multiple testimonies from people who witnessed the awardee's actions—many a hero has gone unsung because there were no survivors to write those testimonies. Once all of this documentation is gathered, it is put into an award packet, which then circulates through a labyrinthine bureaucracy; at each level of command, the award is either recommended for approval, downgraded, or in some cases upgraded. The nomination first goes to a battalion-level awards board. If approved, it goes to the regiment. The process repeats itself as it goes up to the divisions and, in the case of the Marine Corps, to the Marine Expeditionary Force awards board and then on to Headquarters Marine Corps, followed by the offices of the Secretaries of the Navy and Defense and finally the White House. Awards boards only meet periodically, so this process can take years. Awards for valor are not given by decree.

In the case of the Medal of Honor, recipients join a special brotherhood. They become the embodiment of American valor, living tributes to the heroism that is deeply embedded in our national character. This is a heavy burden, a glory that, for many, takes a price and becomes a second kind of service. Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, struggled with his own mental health and alcoholism until his death. More recently, post-9/11 Medal of Honor recipients like Kyle Carpenter and Ryan Pitts have become vocal advocates for veterans and their mental health and rehabilitation.

Trump has been known to make disparaging remarks about American bravery in the past. In 2015, he said of the late Silver Star recipient, Senator John McCain, that he was “a war hero only because he was captured,” adding, “I like people who weren't captured, OK?” Perhaps Trump thinks the Medal of Freedom is “better” because, as president, he can award it to whomever he wants, including friends and donors. The Medal of Honor doesn't give him such discretion. He also doesn't seem to understand that an award can simply lead to another chapter of service to the United States, rather than becoming an award for personal gain.

He has been the Medal of Honor presenter 12 times during Trump's presidency. If he wins the White House in November, he will likely present more. I doubt that at any future White House ceremony, anyone will say an award is not deserved. Instead, they could say that the man presenting it is not worthy of the honor of doing the job.