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Literally millions have served, and
although U.S. casualty of war figures vary from source
to source, the bottom line is, more than one million
Americans have fallen in wars, including both sides from
the Civil War, since the Revolution, with nearly half of
them in World War II alone. Hundreds of thousands more
were wounded, with tens of thousands suffering permanent
disabilities. That's just military personnel.
Though not all perished in battle, the sacrifice was
made by each and every one of them. And though,
with the exception of the Civil War and the casualties
of 9-11, no war was ever fought on U.S. soil, thousands
of U.S. civilians also fell during wartimes.
Lebanon County, Pennsylvania is proud
to honor and remember her military veterans and fallen
heroes. Statues, monuments, memorials and markers
can be found throughout the county. And, as in any
city or town across America, patriotism can be seen
anywhere you look. To date, more than ten thousand
veterans are interred in Lebanon County cemeteries,
hundreds having made the ultimate sacrifice in war.
Many of the top honor medals have been awarded to
Pennsylvania's military veterans. The top honor, the
Congressional Medal of Honor, was only ever awarded
3,462 times to 3,443 soldiers and civilians for 3,457
individual actions, of which 377 are accredited to
Pennsylvania. Two of these are accredited to
Lebanon County.
Of the 3,443 soldiers and civilians who received the
Medal of Honor only nineteen ever received it twice, two
of which are from Pennsylvania.
Smedley
Darlington Butler is the only one to receive TWO
Medals of Honor for combat action in TWO different wars.
During the Civil War, Pennsylvania's John Lafferty
received the Medal of Honor for heroism. Years
later he returned to military service under the name
John Laverty in California, to which his SECOND Medal of
Honor was accredited. Three
Medal of Honor recipients currently live in
Pennsylvania. Lebanon County is
accredited with many of the highest precedence awards,
the Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross, as
well as the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross,
Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Air Medal, just to
name a few. The Lebanon County
MEDALS pages are currently
under construction, but please stop in anyway for a
quick preview. |
