The Medal of Honor Histories website has been created to provide ready and free access to research and documents that relate to several untold aspects of the history of the Medal of Honor. As our nation’s highest military award, the Medal and its history reflect the significant gallantry and sacrifice exhibited by its deserving recipients. There are, however, events and issues relating to the history of the Medal of Honor that have not been fully examined until recent years. The most notable and definitive examination is found in Dwight S. Mears’ 2018 book, The Medal of Honor, The Evolution of America’s Highest Military Decoration. Any Medal of Honor “historian” who has not read Dwight’s book is a “pretender.”
Building on the exceptional work of Mr. Mears, other details and facts have been discovered since his publication. The 2025 book entitled The Medal of Honor: Its Dark Sides is a reflection of those discoveries by one author, Michael Eberhardt. His book details how soldiers were denied Medals of Honor under a misguided Army policy not to award Medals of Honor to deceased soldiers until that policy was rescinded in 1918. The book further examines the issue of how at least 60 Medal of Honor recipients remain on the official Medal of Honor rolls despite having deserted after receipt of their Medals. It further provides several case studies for soldiers whose Medals of Honor were revoked under a flawed analysis by the 1916 Medal of Honor Review Board. Finally, the book examines the unjust and tragic consequences which resulted from the War Department’s misplacement of four lists of Civil War soldiers who were recommended in 1865 for the Medal of Honor.
Besides using this website to provide free access to the Medal of Honor: Its Dark Sides book, the future plan is to similarly provide website access to other material relating to the Medal of Honor. The focus of future material will be on some of the more controversial or untold issues affecting the Medal of Honor. This is not intended to detract from the significance of the actions that are reflected in the awards to so many gallant recipients. They are richly deserved. It will however be a means of fairly accounting for all aspects of the history of the Medal of Honor.
Consult this website in the future for updates.
To read a free copy of The Medal of Honor: Its Dark Sides, open “Books” in the Menu and scroll to the bottom where the book can be downloaded.
If you are interested in a hard copy of Michael Eberhardt’s book, please use Book Order Form.