R-77 Page 1 of 1
2025
VT LEG #382289 v.1
No. R-77. House concurrent resolution recognizing March 25, 2025 as National
Medal of Honor Day in Vermont.
(H.C.R.57)
Offered by Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs
Offered by Senators Clarkson, Major, and White
Whereas, on December 21, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed Public
Resolution 82, the original Medal of Honor legislation, providing for a Navy Medal of
Valor, which Senator James W. Grimes of Iowa had introduced, and in 1862, President
Abraham Lincoln extended its eligibility to U.S. Army personnel, and
Whereas, the first recipients of the Medal of Honor were a group of soldiers known as
Andrews’ Raiders, who led a daunting mission to cross Confederate lines and steal a
train, and six of those soldiers were honored on March 25, 1863, and
Whereas, during the Civil War, approximately 60 Vermonters were Medal of Honor
recipients, and
Whereas, the most unusual recipient was Willie Johnston, a young resident of the
Northeast Kingdom community of Salem, now Derby, who, despite being only 11 years
of age when he enlisted, was accepted as a drummer in Company D of the 3rd Vermont
Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and
Whereas, during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, when Union forces failed to invade
the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and were forced to flee down the Virginia
peninsula, young Johnston proved to be the only drummer in his division to retain his
instrument through the harrowing ordeal, and
Whereas, on September 16, 1863, when Willie Johnston was only 13 years of age,
U.S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton presented him with this special medal, and he
remains the youngest recipient to this day, and
Whereas, other Vermonters have been awarded the Medal of Honor for their military
valor, including during the Indian Wars (1), the Philippines Campaign (1), interim
periods (2), World War II (3), and the Vietnam War (1), and
Whereas, Congress established National Medal of Honor Day, which was first
observed in 1991, “to foster public appreciation and recognition of Medal of Honor
recipients,” now therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly recognizes March 25, 2025 as National Medal of Honor
Day in Vermont, and be it further
Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to provide a copy of this resolution
to the Green Mountain Base Submarine Veterans; to Robert Burke, Director of the
Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs; and to Richard Lorenz, the President of the Vermont
National Guard Library and Museum.