The Medal of Honor is the highest decoration for valor that can be bestowed on a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. Since the Medal's inception in 1861, among the tens of millions of men and women who have borne American arms, the Medal has only been awarded 3,458 times. Almost half of those awards were for actions that occurred during the Civil War. Over the decades, and especially after WW I, the standards by which the Medal is awarded have become more and more stringent and the frequency with which it is bestowed has declined sharply. The Medal of Honor truly is the most prized decoration and the most hallowed. Recipients have come from all walks of life, every corner of America, and every uniformed service. Many; indeed most, of the awards, since 1941, have been made posthumously. The award may only be given to an individual once (although, in an earlier era, there were nineteen double awards); one women has been awarded the Medal (Dr. Mary Walker); and, eighty-five awardees are still living. Originally a "private soldiers" award, and still dominated by acts of courage from the ranks, the Medal has been given to a number of commissioned officers as well. As might be expected, among college and university graduates who have been tapped, the service academies top the list: There are 83 alumni from West Point, 73 from Annapolis and one from the Air Force Academy. Among all other American institutions of higher learning the university with the highest number of Medal of Honor recipients is Harvard; seventeen alumni in all. The Harvard men who have been honored served in virtually every conflict, from the Civil War to Vietnam. Who are these remarkable men? What stories do they have to share? Crimson Valor, a new book by Phil Keith, H-68, a Navy and Vietnam Vet, is available now to tell their tales.

Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, the famed Blackhorse Regiment, was a specialized cavalry outfit equipped with tanks and armored assault vehicles. On the morning of March 26, 1970, they began hearing radio calls from an infantry unit four kilometres away that had stumbled into a hidden North Vietnamese Army stronghold. Outnumbered at least six to one, the ninety-man American company was quickly surrounded, pinned down, and fighting for its existence. Helicopters could not penetrate the dense jungle, and artillery and air support could not be targeted effectively. Captain John Poindexter, Alpha Troop's twenty-five-year-old commander, realized that his outfit was the only hope for the trapped company. It just might be possible that they could "bust" enough jungle by nightfall to reach them. With the courage and determination that makes legends out of ordinary men, they affected a daring rescue and fought a pitched battle - at considerable cost. Thirty years later, Poindexter was made aware that his award recommendations, and even the records of the battle, had somehow gone missing. Thus began a "battle" to ensure that his brave men's accomplishments would never be forgotten again. President Obama stepped to the podium on October 20, 2009, to award Alpha Troop with the Presidential Unit Citation: the highest combat award that can be given to a military unit.