March 25, 2025 - from the American Battlefield Trust
March 25 marks Medal of Honor Day, commemorating when the first Medals were awarded to Andrews Raiders during the Civil War. Since 2018, the commemoration has taken on new resonance at the American Battlefield Trust, thanks to our ongoing collaboration with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Members of the Trust leadership team were humbled and honored to once again join the Society and many recipients and their families for a luncheon prior to the wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
We were especially proud to use the occasion to debut the Medal of Honor Valor Trail™ app, a free digital product that provides access to a global network of sites tied to the lives and legacies of those 3,517 individuals who have received the nation’s highest military honor. From hometowns to far-flung battlefields, from namesake buildings to monuments and museums, together, these places tell a fuller story of recipients’ lives, not just the combat action for which they were recognized.
The Medal of Honor Valor Trail™ app is a dynamic, immersive way to engage with our nation’s history. It is centered around an interactive map that lets users virtually follow in the footsteps of recipients by discovering battlefields, memorials, museums, and more around the world. Pages for specific recipients show an individual journey, from birth through enlistment, citation action, death and burial, plus listings for namesake sites — many of these hometown heroes are honored with elementary schools, local parks and other meaningful places named in their honor and memory. Wherever you are in the world, a Medal of Honor connection is probably closer than you think, as illustrated by the “Near Me” feature.
As more sites around the world self-identify for inclusion, the Trail inventory will continue to grow. Future curated collections of recipients with parallel stories and experiences will deepen the connections between heroes across time. And with more than 3,500 powerful stories of individuals filled with profound acts of courage and conviction by ordinary people who rose to the occasion in which they found themselves, a steady stream of biographies will also be added.
