Medal of Honor Quotes

About 179,000 African Americans served in the war. The bulk of them came from the slave states, probably 150,000 of them. Most of the time they served under white officers because that made it more palatable to the Union public. African Americans fought in 41 major battles and about 450 minor affairs. They did extremely well, certainly as well as white soldiers. Sixteen African Americans received medals of honor from the Army and seven received them from the navy and about 37,000 African Americans gave their lives during the course of the war.

I've won the African Cup, I've won an Olympic gold medal. That says everything.

To be among the world's greatest athletes and compete for Team U.S.A. while knowing that the entire world is watching is something that athletes dream about. To be able to experience that was truly special.

I wasn’t highly decorated. The highly decorated men are dead.

For the record, I'm a Second World War veteran and served in the Pacific.

In 1962, my injury wasn't because of violence; I just kicked the ball and it happened. And that was OK because Brazil won; I didn't have any difficulty in accepting that. I still got a medal because I'd played two games.

It has always been a dream to win either the Olympic gold medal or the World Cup.

I saw some war heroes... John Kerry is not a war hero. He couldn't tie the shoes of some of the people in Coastal Division 11.

I think an Olympic medal is the only thing missing from what I can physically achieve as a cyclist. I can't win the Tour de France, but I've pretty much won everything else that I can within my physical realm, so that's the only thing missing.

My relationship with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is very clear: respect. We met a couple of times; once I received a medal from him. I respect hugely how he brought Russia back from its knees.

The number of medals on an officer's breast varies in inverse proportion to the square of the distance of his duties from the front line.

From Clara Barton's tireless work founding the American Red Cross to the first female Medal of Honor winner, Dr. Mary Walker, to our first female combat fighter pilot Lt. Kara Hultgreen, no list of American heroes is complete without the names of some of these extraordinary women.

It's amazing to get one Olympic gold, but you have to be a legend to get two. And that's definitely my aim.

I'm proud to be part of any Olympic team.

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.

I have decorated soldiers for heroism before, and it was always such an honor to do it.

To win a gold medal at Olympic Games has long been my dream ever since I started my career as a table tennis player.

My dad was a big admirer of Sergeant York stories from the First World War.

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and at Centcom, is probably the most decorated officer of his generation.

President Bush bestowed the Congressional Medal on myself.

Standing on the podium at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and receiving a gold medal was the crowning jewel in a successful gymnastics career and, most certainly, the confirmation that my parents' sacrifices were not in vain.

I wished for just one medal as a junior.

The first time I won a medal in the all-around competition is when I realized that's what I wanted to do pretty much for the rest of my life. Even though I was still doing baseball and soccer at the time, I think I just found that that was more my passion, where I saw a lot more success... I was probably eight or nine years old.

An Olympic medal is much better than a world record, and so is a world championship or Commonwealth Games medal.

I am European Games champion now as well as Olympic champion, European champion, and world champion.