Tennessee Buffalo Soldier, Dr. Mary Walker and other veterans honored at the city's Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
The Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award was first presented in 1863 in Chattanooga, Tenn. So it’s fitting that the town skirting Lookout Mountain would be home to the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. The center opened in 2020 and not only pays homage to those who have received the prestigious award throughout the decades but also spotlights the heroes from Tennessee.
The first Metal of Honor
It all began in Marietta, Ga., at the site of a downtown hotel. A Union spy named James J. Andrews recruited men to steal a train heading to Chattanooga with stops along the way to destroy tracks and disrupt the movement of the Confederate Army.
They took possession of the locomotive "General" on April 12, 1862, at what is now Kennesaw, Ga. Confederates chased and the locomotive was caught at milepost 116.3, north of Ringgold, just 18 miles from Chattanooga. The event became known as “The Great Locomotive Chase.”
The Union soldiers who were caught were tried in Confederate military courts. Andrews was found guilty and hanged, seven others who were incarcerated were convicted and hanged as well. They were later re-interred in Chattanooga National Cemetery. Some escaped and others were traded with the Confederates as prisoners of war.
Early in the Civil War, a proposal was made to institute a battlefield decoration for valor and was later established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. In 1863, Private Jacob Parrott, who had been physically abused as a prisoner, was awarded the first Medal of Honor for his part in “The Great Locomotive Chase.” Eventually, 19 of the 24 members who participated in the raid were also awarded First Medals—a term used to describe these recipients.
Note: The General is now housed and exhibited in The Southern Museum of Kennesaw, a few feet from where it was stolen in 1862.
Since it was first established, a Tennessean has received the Medal of Honor in every conflict excluding the War on Terror. The 32 state recipients are honored on the center’s Tennessee Wall of Valor.
Metal Winners
Since the Civil War, more than 40 million Americans have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Only 3,520 have received the Medal of Honor, less than one percent.
Only one woman, Dr. Mary Walker, has been bestowed with the honor. Her story and struggle as a Civil War physician and a woman's advocate are just one of many of the center’s highlights. She was the second woman in the United States to become a medical doctor.
George Jordan, a former slave from Williamson County, Tennessee, and a Buffalo Soldier, received the Medal of Honor for two separate actions during the Indian Wars and wars in the Pacific.
The flight suit of Richard “Dick” Scobee, an Air Force veteran and captain of the ill-fated Challenger, is prominently on display. Captain’s Scobee’s wife, June Scobee Rodgers, a resident of Chattanooga, happened to be walking by the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center shortly after it opened. She went in unannounced and anonymously explored the exhibits and displays. A few days later she returned offering to donate her late husband’s flight suit and boots. While Scobee was not a recipient of the award, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
The Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, closed for major holidays. Admission is $16.95 for adults, $11.95 for seniors and military, $9.95 for children ages 5-12, $7.95 for students with ID and free for children under 4.
Weird, Wacky & Wild South is written by travel writer Cheré Dastugue Coen. She wishes everyone who's served a Happy Veteran's Day. Thank you for your service.
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