The Medal of Honor has been awarded to servicemen since the Civil War, recognizing soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen who risked their lives with "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" above and beyond the call of duty.

It is the highest military honor awarded.

Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry, a Santa Fe native, became the 3,455th serviceman to receive the nation's highest military honor. Congress awards the medal, and the president bestows it on recipients.

The Army and the Air Force each have a version of the medal. A third version is for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Nominations for the military honor are intensely scrutinized, and the process can take 18 months or longer. Recommendations for the medal must be made within two years from the time of the action for which a serviceman is nominated. If a recommendation is outside that time, it must be made by a member of Congress. The nomination is vetted and a recommendation must be approved by several different levels of the military before final approval by the president.

Diverse recipients

During the Civil War, private Jacob Parrott was the first soldier to receive the Army Medal of Honor, as one of 22 men who made it through 200 miles of Confederate territory to capture a railroad train in Big Shanty, Ga.

A total of 19 of servicemen were awarded two Medals of Honor, including Thomas Custer, younger brother of Gen. George Armstrong Custer. Thomas Custer was awarded the medal twice for actions during the Civil War and later died with his brother at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Robert Augustus Sweeney was the only African American serviceman to twice receive the Medal of Honor. In 1881 and again in 1883, Sweeney jumped into the ocean to save fellow sailors.

Petry will be the 44th serviceman of Hispanic descent to receive the Medal of Honor. He is the first member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Army Ranger Regiment to receive the honor.

A total of 28 Native Americans have been awarded Medals of Honor for their military actions dating to active Army campaigns against the Apache in 1871.

Although African American servicemen were awarded Medals of Honor in every conflict from the Civil War through World War I, no African American soldiers or sailors in World War II were recognized with a Medal of Honor until more than half a century after their service.

The Army in 1993 ordered a study to determine whether racial bias played a part in who received the honor. The report found there was bias and recommended 10 soldiers for the medal. Congress approved seven, and President Bill Clinton finally awarded the men their medals in 1997. Only one was still alive at the time.

Congress directed the Army in 1996 to review all Asian American and Pacific Islands servicemen who were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in World War II "to determine whether any such award should be upgraded to the Medal of Honor." A total of 22 were upgraded, and the medals were bestowed in 2000. Two other Asian Americans, Sgt. Jose Calugas of the Philippine Scouts and Pfc. Sadao Munemori of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, did receive Medals of Honor for actions during World War II prior to the review.

"These quiet men, small in stature, performed unbelievable acts of bravery; they were tigers in battle," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki said at the time.

Dr. Mary E. Walker, a contract civilian surgeon during the Civil War, is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. She was honored in 1865 for her work in the field and in hospitals caring for wounded soldiers "to the detriment of her own health." She was later captured by the Confederates and held as a prisoner of war for four months.

Walker's medal was rescinded, along with those of other civilians, in 1917. She refused to give up the medal, and her family lobbied for her name to be returned to the honor roll. President Jimmy Carter restored her name to the roll in 1977.

Protecting the honor

Beginning in 2006, the Medal of Honor became the only military service decoration with special protection to prevent it from being imitated or sold. But the Stolen Valor Act was found unconstitutional by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals as an infringement on freedom of speech. The Supreme Court might take up the case.

The FBI regularly investigates claims of false Medal of Honor use.

In 1996, H.L.I. Lordship Industries, a company that had produced the Medal of Honor, was fined $80,000 for selling 300 fake ones.

Florida resident Jackie Stern was convicted that same year of wearing a Medal of Honor to which he was not entitled. The federal judge sentenced him to write a personal letter of apology to the 171 living Medal of Honor recipients.

Privileges of the award

Other military personnel, regardless of rank, are encouraged to salute Medal of Honor recipients when they meet them. It is special recognition of the valor and courage indicated by the medal.

Medal of Honor recipients are given special deals on air transportation, an increased military pension and a 10 percent increase in retirement pay. They receive a special Medal of Honor flag, along with the neck medal.

Recipients are invited to future presidential inaugurations and inaugural balls.

For more images visit http://tinyurl.com/68yjpsz