Act Quickly on a Unique Opportunity for Honoring Scouting’s Heroes

Across the nation, when one mentions “Medal of Honor,” our thoughts go immediately to those courageous members of our armed forces who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve our country and put others above themselves to help protect our freedom.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is composed exclusively of living recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for military valor. And did you know that the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and its Foundation reach out to our citizens – particularly American youth – to promote awareness of what the Medal of Honor represents and how ordinary Americans can challenge fate and change the course of history through extraordinary acts of service and patriotism?

As part of its mission, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and its Foundation are seeking hometown heroes from across the nation to be recognized by the Citizen Service Before Self (“Citizen Honors”) Awards Program. Recipients are honored for demonstrating the very traits that are emblematic of the Medal of Honor – courage, sacrifice, selflessness, and patriotism.

Every day those involved in Scouting do extraordinary things worthy of consideration for this honor, and you can nominate them for it, but you need to act quickly. The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, January 10, 2014. Details on the nominating criteria and the actual online form for submission can be found at this link.

Service Above Self is certainly one of the legacy values of the Boy Scouts of America that we share with service organizations across the country, and we are honored to have our members among those considered for this tremendous recognition.

The Citizen Honors Medal will be awarded on National Medal of Honor Day in ceremonies held at Arlington National Cemetery near the Tomb of the Unknowns.

I encourage all units and leaders in councils across the country to commit resources for selecting a candidate for this high honor and submit their recommendation immediately.  This speaks volumes to the service we provide our nation, and I am sure we have many members who have answered the call to serve others in this selfless manner.

Good luck!

Wayne