28 More

One day last week President Truman awarded Congressional Medals of Honor to 28 soldiers in the East Room of the White House. It was the biggest ceremony of its kind since World War II began. As each man stepped up, or was wheeled up, Harry Truman said: "I'm proud to place this medal on you, son."

The number of World War II Medal of Honor winners now stood at 272 (Army 197, Marines 41, Navy 33, Coast Guard 1). This was more than twice the number given for heroism in World War I. But the highest award was still hard to get: only one serviceman in 45,000 had received it.

Pennsylvania had produced more Medal of Honor winners (25) than any other state. Twenty-one were born in New York; the same number in Texas. Ohio was fourth with 13. Every state except Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, had given birth to at least one such No. 1 hero. In terms of percentage, Idaho (four Medal of Honor men in a 525,000 population) ranked highest. Eleven Medal of Honor men were foreign-born.

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