By JOAN SOLEY
Observer Staff
Feb. 6, 2008

* The first award of the Medal of Honor was in 1863.
* 3,470 Medals of Honor have been awarded.
* Today, there are 107 living recipients of the Medal of Honor.
* 43% of the living recipients earned their medals more than 50 years ago while serving in WWII (32) or Korea (14).
* The most recent Medal of Honor given was awarded to Michael P. Murphy, posthumously, on Oct. 22, 2007 for his actions in Afghanistan in 2005.
* Mary Walker is the only woman to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (Bull Run on July 21, 1861).
* There are 19 double awardees of the medal.
* William Carney was the first black recipient. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on July 18, 1863 at Fort Wagner, S.C.
* There have been 87 black medal recipients.
* There have been 41 Hispanic medal recipients.
* There have been 31 Asian-American medal recipients.
* There have been 22 American Indian medal recipients.

Information provided by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society