Latest news with #NationalMedalofHonorMuseum
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The newly opened National Medal of Honor Museum in Texas has SC roots
The National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. (Photo Courtesy of the National Medal of Honor Museum) Carlyle Blakeney and Darwin Simpson took different paths to Patriots Point, but their volunteer work there culminated in the National Medal of Honor Museum that opened this spring — just not in South Carolina as they initially dreamed. Blakeney, of Charleston, has spent all of his 80 years in the Palmetto State. Simpson, 81, is a native of Arkansas who split much of his adult life between the Army and being an executive for a chemical conglomerate. He's lived in Spartanburg since McKesson Pharmaceuticals brought him to South Carolina in 1982. They eventually met while volunteering at Patriots Point, a state-owned naval and maritime museum in Mount Pleasant, and found a common passion. Simpson and Blakeney, who came from a military family but could not enlist due to hearing issues, met recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor in combat, through their volunteer work. Since its creation during the Civil War, the medal has been awarded to 3,528 people. Only 61 are still living, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, headquartered at Patriots Point. Since 1994, the society has operated the Medal of Honor Museum aboard the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor. SC to finalize environmental cleanup of USS Yorktown Medal of Honor museums, memorials or exhibits can be found in at least seven states. And in 1999, Congress designated three sites, including the museum on the World War II aircraft carrier, as national Medal of Honor sites. But Simpson, Blakeney and others at Patriots Point envisioned a single, large 'official home' of the Medal of Honor on land that pays homage to all recipients and educates visitors about them, Blakeney said. The pair's efforts ultimately helped lead to the construction of a 100,000-square-foot national museum that opened in Arlington, Texas, in March. It's expected to draw millions of visitors each year. Every awarded combat hero is named at the entrance. 'They became recipients because of some historic battles they've been in,' said Simpson, who retired from the Army in 2003 as a major general. 'Most of them have been wounded, shot up and everything else. And some of them are not capable of getting out and about even to this day.' South Carolina has 33 Medal of Honor recipients. Many of their stories were known to Blakeney and Simpson because both had stints on the governing board of Patriots Point. 'They're all remarkable,' Blakeney said. When Blakeney, a real estate broker in Charleston who served in the ROTC at Clemson, and Simpson first discussed the idea of a National Medal of Honor Museum in 2012, they hoped to put it at Patriots Point. It made sense to establish the national museum in military friendly South Carolina at a location already dubbed a national Medal of Honor site. But the effort to build it there ultimately fell apart, partly due to squabbles over the museum's design and height. In 2018, after years of discussions with both local officials and state lawmakers, the National Medal of Honor Foundation announced it was opening up bidding nationwide. 'We absolutely could not raise the money,' Simpson said. 'There were not enough people in the Mount Pleasant and Charleston area willing to support the Medal of Honor museum.' In 2019, legislators redirected the $5 million they approved for the national museum in prior state budgets to fund maintenance at state parks and help cover the costs of turning the USS Clamagore at Patriots Point into an artificial reef. (In 2022, the submarine was instead taken apart for scrap.) In the aftermath of losing out on what was estimated to be a $100 million museum, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society made the decision to renovate its own museum at Patriots Point, which reopened last May. That $3.5 million update was funded by a different nonprofit, the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership. Since 2021, the Legislature has given $11 million total to that nonprofit, which has also been raising money for a $75 million center at Patriots Point with exhibit and classroom space. Those plans were drawn up after the National Medal of Honor Foundation moved on, and cities from around the country expressed interest. The group screened all applicants and settled on San Francisco, Arlington and New York City as the three finalists. Arlington was ultimately the winner, thanks partly to the backing of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who attended the University of Arkansas the same time as Simpson and donated land for the museum. His daughter, Charlotte Jones, led fundraising efforts that brought in roughly $280 million to design and build the museum and support its programs. 'From a practical standpoint, Arlington was head and shoulders the best location and best choice,' Blakeney said. The opening came six years after Arlington was selected. The museum has five interactive exhibits and five pillars representing the five branches of the military with Medal of Honor recipients. And at night, a line shines upward to represent the U.S. Space Force. The museum is also located less than half a mile from the home stadiums for the Cowboys and the Texas Rangers' baseball team, as well as many bars, restaurants and hotels. 'It's in a big entertainment complex of land. It's well situated,' Simpson said. Simpson, the former head of the Spartanburg Downtown Airport, has yet to visit the museum. However, he's an active pilot — even in his 80s — and plans to travel to Texas in his plane soon, he told the SC Daily Gazette. Blakeney, who attended the March opening, said being at the museum was overwhelming. It was just as great as he imagined. 'It really was a dream come true,' he said.
Cision Canada
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Cision Canada
Elation Shines Bright at Grand Opening of National Medal of Honor Museum
ARLINGTON, Texas, May 1, 2025 /CNW/ -- The highly anticipated Grand Opening Celebration of the National Medal of Honor Museum took place on March 22, 2025, with a breathtaking nighttime spectacular that showcased Elation lighting with the company's new ultra-long-throw PROTEUS ATLAS beam FX fixture taking center stage. Located in the heart of Arlington, Texas, and the newest national museum in the United States, the National Medal of Honor Museum honors the courage, sacrifice, and service of U.S. Armed Forces personnel who took extraordinary action in the service of others. Designed by renowned Rafael Viñoly Architects, the National Medal of Honor Museum is a tribute to over 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients and the millions of Americans who have served in the United States Armed Forces. The opening night celebration was a grand affair, with dignitaries, donors, and Medal of Honor recipients in attendance, along with local citizens of Arlington. "Mission to Inspire Spectacular" The nighttime spectacle—"Mission to Inspire Spectacular"—featured a stunning 360-degree display of fireworks, drones, storytelling, and live performances, all supported by an immersive lighting design by Ryan Stumpp, Principal at Cue 13 Design. The nighttime spectacular, produced by Dallas-based corporate and event production company Corporate Magic, was crafted to reflect the core mission of the museum to inspire America through storytelling while celebrating the Medal of Honor recipients, the nation's highest military honor. Stumpp, who worked closely with Corporate Magic as the lead lighting designer and programmer, brought his extensive experience in nighttime spectaculars—gained from nearly two decades at Walt Disney World and Disney Live Entertainment. "The way I approach nighttime spectaculars is to carefully support the thematic emotions of the music and story through a visual journey, much like theater - but on a much larger stage canvas with a variety of viewing angles and lighting positions," the designer stated. "In this case, it was to set moods that reinforced the narratives of commitment and valor with big and grand looks, bravery and sacrifice with solemn beams to the heavens, and a huge grand finale celebrating honor and legacy – complimenting a beautiful drone and pyrotechnics design." Elation Lighting The event marked the U.S. debut of Elation's PROTEUS ATLAS, an ultra-long-throw IP66 moving head fixture, and the foundation of a powerful team of Elation luminaires that also included PROTEUS BRUTUS, PROTEUS HYBRID MAX, PARAGON M, FUZE WASH 500, and KL PANEL fixtures. Stumpp noted that the design relied on Elation for 75% of the lighting, some 110 fixtures for the nighttime show alone. "With the backdrop of a nighttime spectacular and such a variety of important people present, we needed large and impactful lighting looks with the finesse of perfect key lighting to put our best foot forward, and Elation lighting helped us achieve that," he stated. Four Separate Events The opening celebration included four events—a cocktail party, a Gala dinner, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the "Mission to Inspire Spectacular"—all lit by Stumpp and all featuring Elation lighting. PARAGON M and FUZE WASH 500 lights were used for the cocktail party, while PARAGON M, FUZE WASH 500, and KL PANEL fixtures lit the Gala dinner, which took place in a tent with the museum as a backdrop. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, featuring former President George W. Bush, one of the honorary directors of the museum, was held in the museum's open-air rotunda. Here PARAGON M was used for key light, with KL Panels utilized for high-quality softlight. The evening culminated by the museum's lagoon with the "Mission to Inspire Spectacular" with an awe-inspiring combination of 32 PROTEUS ATLAS, 52 PROTEUS HYBRID MAX, 20 PROTEUS BRUTUS, and 8 PARAGON M. Theatrical Environment The show took the audience on a journey, starting with a powerful opening, weaving through educational and informational moments that honored the history of the Medal of Honor and culminating in a dynamic finale of light, color, and impact. Stumpp sought to create a theatrical environment in which guests could be immersed. "It was important that the show be creative yet very emotional," he said, "but it also needed to be backed with big beams; therefore, I relied on the PROTEUS ATLAS as the flagship lighting fixture." Stumpp was already familiar with the fixture and its laser-based LILI light engine from his work at Elation, where he saw a shootout against competitor lights in which, he says, it more than held its own. "It has a massive front lens and throws a concentrated 0.6˚ beam of light impressively long distances," he said. PROTEUS The PROTEUS ATLAS lights were strategically positioned around the site—including Choctaw Stadium rooftops, parking lots, and atop the Arlington Museum of Art. The fixtures created a stunning 180-degree backdrop of powerful beams, adding an impressive, layered dimension to the event's overall look. "I needed a hero fixture that gave me strong, bold, regal moments in the show, and the ATLAS provided that," said Stumpp, who, with his fellow designers, curated a nighttime spectacular that was worthy of some of the best theme park presentations in the world. Despite the unseasonably cold, clear evening with minimal particulate in the air, the ATLAS's beams remained punchy and impactful. "The ATLAS set the tone, and framed the picture," the designer remarked. "Even when the fireworks smoke blew away, the ATLAS remained strong and punchy, wrapping the audience in an immersive lighting experience and creating a great backdrop." The PROTEUS BRUTUS and PROTEUS HYBRID MAX, placed around the lagoon to add dynamic mid-air effects and majestic washes over the water, also provided moments of veneration. "When we shot the BRUTUS, HYBRID MAX, and ATLAS beams straight up in the air, it really gave a sense of awe and wonder as they disappeared into the heavens," Stumpp said. Live Events Productions / Gemini / Pyrotecnico Event production company Live Events Productions worked with Gemini, their local shop in Dallas, to supply the lighting, audio and some of the video elements for the event. Pyrotecnico, a sister company of Live Events Productions, provided the stunning fireworks and drone show. "I'm proud and honored that we were part of this event," said Ben Coker, VP of Technology and Assets at Live Events Productions. "For our companies, working on a project of this scale, with such a rich heritage, and integrating fireworks, drones, lighting, and audio into one show created a full 360° experience, which was truly special." Christopher Laue from Corporate Magic, the event's executive producer, shared, "The partnership with Elation and the deployment of their ATLAS fixtures allowed us to create the visual continuity between story and screen content to pyrotechnics and drones. All working in harmony with an epic musical score. There wasn't a dry eye in the house." Dan Lamphier, VP of Production at Live Events Productions who headed up the project for the Live Events team, adds, "It was a true team effort. We worked with Corporate Magic for 10 months, refining the design to create something special. Bringing everything together on-site, through a week of installation, programming, and rehearsals, it resulted in a spectacular event, and I think everybody walked away with a sense of pride. The lighting, fireworks, drones, and storyline combined to honor the history of the Medal of Honor—it was more than just a building opening; the event brought home the profound significance behind the Medal of Honor." PARAGON The design team also had to consider the broadcast and online audiences as the event was live-streamed, covered by media outlets, and documented by an in-house team. In particular, Elation's new PARAGON M LED profile moving head was selected for its high color fidelity and versatility, ensuring that the live audience and camera crews captured the event's magic in the best possible light. Stumpp comments that the PARAGON M's TruTone variable CRI system was essential for delivering consistent, high-quality lighting across the entire event. "I got to unlock some of the great creative abilities of the fixture through TruTone," he said, noting that he used the variable CRI engine to get the proper skin tones for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and live performances but also used it at higher output, narrow zoom and lower CRI for extra punch during the nighttime spectacular. "It looked absolutely perfect and was well balanced on camera for both IMAG and streaming. They were a real workhorse that did what we needed them to." Live Events Productions recently added the PARAGON M and PROTEUS HYBRID MAX to their stock of Elation lighting gear and debuted the fixtures at the event. "The PARAGON's TruTone variable CRI engine gives us a lot of flexibility," stated Ben Coker at Live Events Productions. "It answers the need for a natively high CRI fixture but with LED and without having to use a filter to achieve that. It also gives the ability in the same fixture to have a higher output and lower CRI and not have to carry two fixtures. Plus, the IP54 rating means we can use it temporarily outside on shows like the Medal of Honor and don't have to worry about it." Regarding the PARAGON's ability to enhance mixed color tones and expand the color range, Coker added, "It really is incredible how different colors look at the different CRI values from 73 to 93. When you put different colors in and change the CRI, you get some really fantastic, dynamic looks." Dan Lamphier added, "The scenic in the show lent itself to ambers, and with the variable CRI engine it was easy to get a variation of shades. It's a tough color to reproduce in LED, especially with a subtractive color mixing system, but PARAGON did it quite well." Given the immense size and scope of the event, Stumpp required lighting assistance and brought Kevin Harvey onboard as Lighting Director to handle the lighting of the Gala dinner held inside a large tent. He comments, "With our low trim heights, we needed a compact framing profile fixture and the PARAGON was the perfect fixture for the job. Combined with its compact size and TruTone high CRI, I was able to use it for key lighting the performers and had zero issues with the fixture." The lighting system relied on Obsidian Control System NETRON devices—EN6 and EN12—for precise signal distribution, ensuring that every fixture performed flawlessly across the vast venue. Lighting Collaboration Stumpp expressed his privilege in lighting such a noble event and reflected on his first time working with Gemini, which he gives an A++. "It was a real honor to work on such a prestigious event, and collaborating with the Live Events Productions team, Gemini, and Pyrotecnico was an amazing experience. They were fantastic partners with a dedicated staff that pays close attention to detail. We couldn't have done it without them." The National Medal of Honor Museum opened its doors to the public on March 25, 2025, as a source of pride for Arlington and the entire nation. Christopher Laue: Executive Producer, Corporate Magic Ben Coker: VP of Technology and Assets, Live Events Productions Stephen Dahlem: Creative Director Ryan Stumpp: Lighting Designer and Programmer, Cue 13 Design Steve Dumbacher: Technical Director Kevin Harvey: Lighting Director Shawn Jobin: Lighting Programmer (tents) Nick Deel: Master Electrician About Elation At Elation, we represent the elite in the lighting industry. We design and manufacture a comprehensive range of best-in-class entertainment lighting products valued by production/rental houses and lighting designers worldwide. Our dedication to extraordinary quality and creative solutions has established us as the go-to choice for professionals. With a storied legacy of brilliance, our influence extends from iconic stages to cutting-edge studios across the globe. We also offer an advanced line of lighting control products through Obsidian Control Systems, and a full range of dependable specialty effects called Magmatic. We invite you to take a closer look at and
Fox News
08-04-2025
- General
- Fox News
Retired Army captain dedicates his Medal of Honor award to fellow soldiers in Afghanistan
Ret. Army Captain William Swenson described what receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, means to him on 'The Story.' "This medal doesn't represent me," Swenson told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum. "It represents what a team is willing to do for each other, for the mission and for us as Americans." Swenson received the award for his bravery on Sept. 8, 2009, when he repeatedly exposed himself to the enemy fire of 60 insurgents to rescue and aid his fellow soldiers in eastern Afghanistan. He is one of 3,500 service members who have received the honor. The veteran did not hesitate to credit the "service and sacrifice" of the unsung heroes with him in Afghanistan for receiving the award. "This award that I'm wearing right now, it has my name on the back," Swenson began. "But ultimately, this award was given to me because of actions on a battlefield where I stood alongside soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and our Afghan partners who all fought shoulder to shoulder and all did the same thing that I did and would have done more, had they had the chance." "In fact, this medal represents their loss, because [they] did not return from that battlefield," Swenson stated. Swenson's dedication comes as a new museum in Arlington, Texas honors all Medal of Honor recipients. The retired Army captain praised the National Medal of Honor Museum as more than a place of "historical facts." "It's a repository of stories, but really, it's an institution of living valor," Swenson declared. "And into the future, it will continue to tell stories of American exceptionalism. This is not a static display. This is a museum that's going to evolve. U.S. Marine veteran and Fox News contributor Joey Jones gave a sneak peek of the museum's exhibit for Marine hero Kyle Carpenter, who threw himself on a grenade in Afghanistan in 2010. As Jones showcased Carpenter's hardware that had been in his body during his recovery, he referred to the Marine as 'one of the humble heroes.' Swenson similarly acknowledged the grim side of service members' sacrifice. "We do not want more Medal of Honor recipients, but there may be someday," Swenson said. "And this museum will continue to tell that story even after we're gone." The veteran emphasized his hope that the museum would inspire people to serve their fellow Americans, as "everyday citizens" like his fellow award recipients have. "So we hope that they come to our museum, they see our stories, and they see a reflection of what they too can do as Americans for their communities," he concluded.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
National Medal of Honor Museum opens its doors
It has been years, decades even, in the making but on Tuesday, the National Medal of Honor Museum opened its doors to the public in Arlington, Texas. 'Our mission is pretty simple,' Chris Cassidy, CEO and president of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, told Military Times. 'Our aim is to inspire Americans through stories like Tommy's [Norris] of courage, sacrifice, service to others, service over self, through the interaction of those stories in the museum to bring that into one's own life.' The 100,000-square-foot museum boasts exhibits such as 'More Than a Medal,' which explores the 'ordinary lives' of medal recipients, like Marine Kyle Carpenter, and an interactive display featuring interviews with the 61 Medal of Honor recipients living today. Since its inception in 1861 during the American Civil War, the Medal of Honor has been awarded to less than 4,000 men and one woman among the 40 million Americans who have served in the United States armed forces. Despite the award's prestige, however, some are less familiar with the Medal of Honor's history and its recipients. 'We want to flip that around,' Cassidy said. 'We want people to walk out of the museum experience and have connected in a personal way, because people, human beings, like to hear stories of other human beings.' While the National Medal of Honor Museum is not the first of its kind — the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point, South Carolina, was designated by Congress as an official National Medal of Honor Memorial site in 1999 and is operated by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society — the scale of the museum and the stories it shares is unprecedented. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his family donated the first $20 million to get the staggering $300 million project started, with the museum site just a stone's throw from the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Thirty-two of the recipients traveled down to Arlington to mark the museum's grand opening, with Medal of Honor recipient and Navy veteran Thomas 'Tommy' Norris telling Military Times that the museum 'is an incredible avenue to be able to give to the American public those values that are held within the people that have served in order to receive this medal.' For Norris, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his 1972 actions in Quang Tri, Vietnam, these values aren't only displayed in the military. 'Individual recipients don't wear the medal for themselves. It's for our teammates and for those that never returned, the ones we lost,' Norris said. 'But what it took to do that mission are the values and the inspiration we want to impart on all the people that are able to come here and see this incredible museum. 'There are a lot of people out there that are heroes. A lot of people out there have done amazing things and are not always recognized. But they don't need to be. They can be self-satisfied with having the inspiration, the commitment to achieve whatever it is that they're trying to achieve.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New Medal of Honor Museum stirs controversy
The sister of Medal of Honor recipient Master Sgt. John Chapman, an elite combat controller who died on a mountainside during the Battle of Takur Ghar in Afghanistan, is angered by the way the new National Medal of Honor Museum is handling her brother's story. The museum in Arlington, Texas, which pays tribute to more than 3,500 U.S. service members who have earned America's highest military honor, opens to the public on Tuesday. But a disparity in the way the museum treated the story of two recipients has reignited a controversy. Chapman's sister, Lori Longfritz, told "CBS Mornings" she believed her brother would get his own dedicated space at the museum for his heroic acts on March 4, 2002. Reigniting a controversy Chapman earned a posthumous Medal of Honor in 2018, becoming the first member of the Air Force to receive the award since the Vietnam War — and the first recipient where drone video provided evidence of his heroic actions. In one of the most intense battles of the war in Afghanistan, Chapman was working with a team of Navy SEALs who stepped off a helicopter onto the Takur Ghar mountain and into the path of enemy fire. "Without regard for his own safety, Sergeant Chapman immediately engaged, moving in the direction of the closest enemy position despite coming under heavy fire from multiple directions. He fearlessly charged an enemy bunker, up a steep incline in thigh-deep snow and into hostile fire, directly engaging the enemy," his Medal of Honor citation reads. After clearing the first bunker, killing all enemy occupants, Chapman started attacking a second bunker before being shot and seriously wounded, according to the citation. The SEAL team leader at the time, Master Chief Britt Slabinski, told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin in 2018 that he ordered his team to pull back as he "crawled over the top" of Chapman to search for "some sign of life." "I didn't get any, any sign from him," said Britt. Believing he was dead and in a dangerous spot in the middle of the ongoing firefight, Slabinski left Chapman and relocated his team to safer ground. A military analysis of drone video later showed Chapman had still been alive at that time. He had regained consciousness and carried on fighting alone, providing crucial cover fire as reinforcements tried to land. He was credited with saving more than 20 American service members, including Slabinski. "Despite severe, mortal wounds, [Chapman] continued to fight relentlessly, sustaining a violent engagement with multiple enemy personnel before making the ultimate sacrifice," the citation says. Yet more than a decade after the battle, as the Pentagon considered him for the Medal of Honor for those actions, some Navy SEALs resisted. Two former defense officials involved in the process claim the SEALs argued against Chapman posthumously receiving the award, with one telling CBS News they "couldn't accept any hint that SEALs had left behind a service member on the battlefield." It's a position Slabinski himself maintained even as he received his own Medal of Honor months before Chapman. "I can tell you, we left no one behind. No one. What I saw, what I experienced, I know that clearly that we didn't leave anyone behind up there," he said in a 2018 interview with Fox News. In a statement, a Naval Special Warfare spokesperson told CBS News, "We honor the valor and heroism of all Medal of Honor recipients with the dignity and respect they deserve." The statement didn't address accusations about past opposition to Chapman's Medal of Honor, saying only that the SEALs hold him "in high regard as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his teammates. He will forever remain in our memory." "There was never going to be a John Chapman exhibit" "I do believe that there is such a thing as fog of war," Longfritz acknowledged as she spoke about her brother being left behind on the battlefield in an interview from the town of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where they grew up. Regarding Slabinski and the SEALs, she said, "I can't judge them for what they did on the mountain, what happened. I can judge them for how they've acted since then." Chapman's photo hangs on a wall near a monitor playing the drone footage at the new museum — part of a larger exhibit on the timeline of the Medal of Honor, while Slabinski is among several service members who have their own featured exhibits. Slabinski's section is filled with multiple photos and artifacts — like his field knife, ID tag, combat trousers and dress white uniform. Longfritz said representatives at the National Medal of Honor Museum led her to believe that Chapman would also be getting his own featured exhibit. However, in a lengthy statement to CBS News, the museum stated that "it is not possible to tell 3,526 stories in a museum's exhibits at one time." "There was never going to be a John Chapman exhibit," according to a former museum employee, who told CBS News the plan was to "kick this can down the road," knowing the underlying tensions between the two sides. The museum says Chapman's story is still among the most high-profile mentioned in the museum. "When evaluating individual coverage of recipients included in the exhibits by word count, Master Sergeant Chapman is among the top 25 percent," the museum added in their statement. But "word count" is not the right measure for Longfritz. "It's disgusting," said Longfritz. "I had found a way to just let it go, and then this. I didn't want this, but I'm not going anywhere now." A growing petition Many in the Air Force community see this as a problem as well. More than 25,000 people have signed an online petition demanding Chapman be given a full exhibit in the museum. It's also drawn the ire of Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran. "It's a blatant disrespect for someone who lost their life, serving this country and that wrong needs to be corrected immediately," said Luna, who supports Chapman getting his own exhibit. When asked what she believes is behind the decision, she answered that "politics played a hand in this entire Medal of Honor debacle," and pointed out that Slabinski serves on the museum's board of directors. CBS News attempted to reach Slabinski, whose wife also works at the museum, several times but never heard back. If the museum doesn't fix the disparity, Luna said she would "call to question" anyone supporting the museum "to reconsider giving funds to an organization that would play politics with people that have sacrificed their lives for this country." According to the museum, "No preference was given to board member Medal of Honor recipients and, to their great credit, it was the board member recipients who specifically asked to be treated no differently in exhibit consideration than their peers." But if the roles were reversed, Longfritz believes her brother "would be the first one to say, 'Do not honor me. This guy who died saving my life deserves it more than I do.'" "I feel like if someone is a true hero…they don't want it for themselves," she added. Sen. Rand Paul says he thinks Supreme Court will uphold the Alien Enemies Act for deportations George Clooney: The 2025 60 Minutes Interview Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal on their Broadway "Othello"
