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For centuries, medals have been awarded to recognize extraordinary achievements. From Olympic medals celebrating athletic excellence to Nobel Prizes honoring intellectual brilliance and Purple Hearts for those wounded in combat, medals stand as timeless symbols of honor and achievement. Here are 10 captivating stories of medals awarded, spanning themes of bravery, sacrifice, and unexpected twists.
10. The Irony of Airport Security
Joe Foss achieved more in his lifetime than most could in five. He was the governor of South Dakota, commissioner of the American Football League, host of the TV series The American Sportsman, president of the National Rifle Association, and leader of the National Society of Crippled Children and Adults. Yet, his most remarkable feats came during his military service as a World War II flying ace, credited with shooting down at least 26 enemy aircraft. His valor earned him the prestigious Medal of Honor.
Almost exactly four months after the tragic events of September 11, 86-year-old Foss was stopped by security personnel at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. En route to a speaking event, Foss was found carrying items deemed “dangerous,” such as a nail file, a keychain shaped like a dummy bullet, and his Medal of Honor. After a delay, he was permitted to board his flight.
The incident sparked widespread media outrage, leaving Foss deeply disheartened. He expressed to the press, “I wasn’t upset for myself. I was upset for the Medal of Honor, that they didn’t even recognize its significance. It symbolizes all those who sacrificed their lives—those who never returned. Everyone who risked everything for this country. You should know what the Medal of Honor stands for.”
9. An Overabundance of Purple Hearts
Among all the medals mentioned here, the Purple Heart is undoubtedly the most somber to receive. Awarded by the United States to soldiers killed or injured in combat, it is estimated that nearly 2 million of these medals have been given out over the years, with over a million awarded during World War II alone.
What’s truly astonishing is that the American government had planned to distribute even more Purple Hearts. Before the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was believed that the only way to end the war in the Pacific was through a full-scale Allied invasion of Japan. This operation was projected to last about two years and result in massive casualties on both sides. While the devastation caused by the bombs is hard to fathom even decades later, the loss of life from an invasion would have been far greater.
The anticipated losses were so severe that the US military ordered the production of 500,000 Purple Hearts. So many were manufactured that, despite subsequent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan, there is still a surplus of over 100,000 medals. Today, the Purple Hearts awarded to young service members were made before many of their grandparents were even born.
8. Glasgow Airport and the Queen’s Gallantry Medal
On June 30, 2007, Glasgow International Airport narrowly escaped disaster when two Islamic extremists drove a Jeep Cherokee filled with burning propane canisters into the terminal’s glass doors. The attackers—driver Kafeel Ahmed and his accomplice, Bilal Abdullah—fled the vehicle to escape the flames but were quickly subdued by bystanders.
John Smeaton, a baggage handler on a smoke break, rushed to the scene as soon as the chaos unfolded. He kicked Ahmed, who was badly burned, in the groin and then pulled another man away from the burning vehicle. For his courageous actions, Smeaton was honored with the Queen’s Gallantry Medal, a decoration given for “outstanding acts of bravery.” Kafeel Ahmed later succumbed to his burns, while Bilal Abdullah received a life sentence. Additional individuals involved in the attack were also arrested.
7. Adolf Hitler’s Iron Cross
Adolf Hitler’s military service was far from remarkable. Initially, he failed his physical examination. Despite being Austrian, he successfully applied to join the Bavarian Army. He mainly worked as a messenger but demonstrated bravery in combat. In 1914, he was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class, a medal for valor that was relatively common at the time.
Hitler eventually reached the rank of corporal but never advanced further, as he was never considered for higher positions. Despite his low rank, he was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, a rare honor for someone of his status. The recommendation for this medal came from his superior officer, Hugo Gutmann, who was Jewish. Hitler wore this medal throughout his time as Führer, and despite his extreme anti-Semitism, there is evidence suggesting he used his power to protect Gutmann during the Third Reich’s rise, even possibly securing his release after a Gestapo arrest in 1938.
6. A Boxer’s Philanthropy
Wladimir Klitschko, a heavyweight boxing champion from Ukraine, holds the WBA, IBF, IBO, and “The Ring” heavyweight titles, making him one of the longest-reigning champions in history. Beyond his boxing career, Klitschko is a multifaceted individual with a PhD in sports science and a deep commitment to humanitarian work. Alongside his brother Vitali, also a boxer, he has dedicated significant efforts to global charitable causes.
In March 2012, the Klitschko brothers hosted a charity auction in Kiev to support Ukrainian children. Among the items auctioned was Wladimir’s gold medal from the 1996 Olympics. The medal fetched an impressive $1 million, but the buyer, moved by Wladimir’s generosity, immediately returned it to him.
5. The Conscientious Objector
Earning the prestigious Medal of Honor typically requires exceptional combat skills, but three recipients in history were conscientious objectors—individuals who refused to fight. The first was Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist whose beliefs prevented him from engaging in combat. Instead, Doss served as a medic, displaying extraordinary bravery and selflessness.
During his service in the Pacific theater, Doss repeatedly risked his life under heavy fire to save his comrades. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he was awarded two Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts. In one instance, he sustained shrapnel wounds to his legs but treated himself to avoid endangering others, waiting five hours for rescue. In another, he fashioned a splint from a rifle stock after a sniper’s bullet broke his arm.
The citation accompanying Doss’s Medal of Honor stated, in part, “Through his extraordinary courage and unwavering resolve under perilous conditions, Pfc. Doss saved countless lives. His name became synonymous with exceptional bravery within the 77th Infantry Division, representing valor far beyond the call of duty.”
4. Medals on the Moon
Yuri Gagarin made history as the first human to journey into outer space, orbiting Earth in April 1961 to widespread acclaim. This marked his final mission as a cosmonaut, as he later returned to his role as a fighter pilot. Tragically, on March 27, 1968, the MiG-15UTI jet he was piloting crashed, resulting in the deaths of both Gagarin and his flight instructor.
A little over a year after Gagarin’s death, the Apollo 11 mission successfully landed humans on the moon, effectively concluding the space race. Despite the intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a satchel on the lunar surface containing commemorative medals honoring Gagarin and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. This gesture of respect was particularly poignant, given the two superpowers’ nuclear tensions at the time.
3. Melted Nobels
In 2013, a vast collection of priceless art looted by the Nazis was discovered in Munich, Germany, highlighting the Third Reich’s greed. Much of the war was funded through stolen treasures, with the Nazis even extracting gold teeth from Jewish victims. To conceal valuables, people had to think creatively—hiding items behind paintings or in safes was no longer effective.
One ingenious method of hiding gold was devised by George de Hevesy, a Jewish chemist from Austria-Hungary. He took the gold Nobel medals belonging to Max von Laue and James Franck and dissolved them in aqua regia, a powerful acid mixture. He placed the jar containing the solution on a shelf at the Niels Bohr Institute, part of the University of Copenhagen, where it remained untouched throughout the war. Hevesy fled to Sweden in 1943 and later won his own Nobel Prize. After the Nazis were defeated, he returned to find the jar undisturbed. He extracted the gold from the acid, and the Nobel Society recreated the medals.
2. A Beer with the President
US Marine Dakota Meyer, a scout sniper, served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. During his deployment in Afghanistan, he found himself in the intense Battle of Ganjgal, facing a larger force of Taliban insurgents. In the chaos, he recovered the bodies of four fallen soldiers, assisted in evacuating a dozen others, and provided cover under relentless enemy fire. Meyer personally eliminated at least eight insurgents during the battle. Two years later, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the youngest living recipient of this prestigious award.
When a White House staffer called to inform Meyer of the honor, he was at his construction job. In a lighthearted moment, he asked if they could call back during his lunch break. As the ceremony approached, another Obama staffer contacted him to finalize details, and Meyer jokingly requested to share a beer with the President. Obama agreed to the request, making the occasion even more memorable.
1. Meteoric Medals
Olympic medals are unique to each Games, with designs, compositions, and sizes varying annually. However, the gold medals awarded at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics will stand out as some of the most remarkable ever created.
On February 15, 2013, a meteor burst over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, traveling at 60 times the speed of sound and weighing over 13,000 kilograms (30,000 lbs). The event caused extensive property damage and around 1,500 injuries, primarily from shattered glass, though no fatalities occurred. To honor this event, Russian organizers will award gold medals on the explosion’s anniversary in 2014, each embedded with a fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteor. Seven events, including the women’s cross-country skiing relay and the men’s 1,500-meter short track, are scheduled for that day.
