Medal of Honor Memorial Service honors the fallen

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Medal of honor ceremony and events have been happening all week.

On Friday, October 3rd, the community held a memorial service to honor two fallen Medal of Honor recipients.

Vince Butler is 2025 Medal of Honor Celebration Director. He had this to say about the event.

“It is something that is an incredible tribute to those American heroes. It is something we are honored to have here today.”

The ceremony honored two individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Butler said, “Private Shadrack and Private Wilson are two of the 24 Andrews Raiders. They were part of the great locomotive chase which is the action that led to the very first medals of honor being awarded in our country’s history. Two of those soldiers were captured, tried, sentenced to death, and were executed in Atlanta.”

The two Privates went unrecognized for over a hundred years.

“Those two individuals, while they made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, were never recognized as a medal of honor recipient. We don’t know why they were never put in for a medal of honor while the others on the raid were,” said Butler.

That has been changed. Soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment performed a three-volley salute with 75mm M116 Howitzers.

Butler said, “We are proud to say in July of ‘23, President Biden righted that wrong, signed the paperwork, and awarded that medal. If you go and see their graves at the national cemetery today they are engraved as a medal of honor recipient. Today’s service, even though their action was 163 years ago, their families were here in Chattanooga to honor those two men.”

The Medal of Honor ceremony honors those from our past and inspires future generations.

“We all have these values within us. We don’t have to be in the military to show courage, or sacrifice, or integrity, or commitment. It is something we can do in everyday life. We all have these values but how do we go and enact them to make a positive change in our community. And helping kids understand they too can make a difference if they just try,” said Butler.

Medal of Honor events will continue through the 4th of October.