Medal of Honor in Iraq

There have only been two medal of honor winners in Operation Iraqi Freedom thusfar (despite the Iraqi War having lasted just as long as US involvement in WWII, when there were 464 medals awarded).  They are the 3rd and 4th medals awarded since the Vietnam War.

• Paul Ray Smith (posthumous): Single-handedly fought off 100 enemy Iraqi Republican Guardsmen with an M2 Browning Machine Gun and essentially saved the lives of his 16 men and the 100 wounded in the nearby aid station near Saddam Hussein International Airport.
• Jason Dunham (posthumous): Saved the lives of his fireteam as he smothered a grenade with his head, sacrificing his life in order to stop the blast from reaching his companions.  He is the first marine to receive the medal since 1945.

For more information, read:
Paul Smith:
http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2005/Medal-of-Honor/
http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_040505_Honor,00.html
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110008153
http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/paulrsmith_cit.htm
Jason Dunham:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/10/medal.honor/index.html
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2087

Military History Podcast is sponsored by: Armchair General Magazine, International Research and Publishing Corporation, and Axis and Allies Reserves