Medal of Honor Pensions Quadruple

Joe Wallace

In late 2025, Congress passed a law requiring an increase in the pension awarded to living Medal of Honor (MoH) recipients. The new law, the Monetary Enhancement for Distinguished Active Legends (MEDAL) Act, increases the monthly military pension for living MoH recipients from $1,489.73 to $5,625, four times the previous amount.

Beyond the monthly pension, recipients get other military benefits that honor their status, including but not limited to the following.

• Enlisted recipients retiring with 20 or more years of service receive a 10% increase in military retirement pay.
• They receive special identification allowing high-priority, Space-Available air transportation on military aircraft.
• Recipients and their eligible dependents receive Department of Defense identification cards that authorize lifetime access to military commissaries, exchanges, and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) facilities.
• Children of recipients may qualify for automatic admission to U.S. military academies if they meet qualification standards, bypassing the normal nomination and quota requirements.
• Recipients who are not otherwise eligible for interment at Arlington National Cemetery receive special full military funeral honors.

The change in the pension follows years of lobbying to bring the Medal of Honor pension benefit back into line after it fell behind inflation and cost-of-living increases.

To be a Medal of Honor recipient means taking on public duties associated with the award. Until the increase, to costs of those duties often ate into the benefit.

Created during the Civil War, the Medal of Honor represents the nation’s highest military award for valor. The President presents the medal in the name of Congress to service members who distinguish themselves, “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.“

The MoH requires proof of personal bravery in action against an enemy force. The award signifies a sacrifice so profound it clearly separates the recipient’s actions from so-called “lesser forms” of bravery.

Living Medal of Honor Recipients

The following list of Medal of Honor recipients still living (at press time) includes, but may not be limited to, the following:

Vietnam War Recipients

• John P. Baca, Army
• Donald E. Ballard, Navy
• Harvey C. Barnum Jr., Marine Corps
• Dwight W. Birdwell, Army
• Patrick H. Brady, Army
• Paul W. Bucha, Army
• John L. Canley, Marine Corps
• Bruce P. Crandall, Army
• Kenneth J. Davis, Army
• Sammy L. Davis, Army
• Paris D. Davis, Army
• Drew D. Dix, Army
• Roger H. Donlon, Army
• John J. Duffy, Army
• Frederick E. Ferguson, Army
• Michael J. Fitzmaurice, Army
• James P. Fleming, Air Force
• Robert F. Foley, Army
• Harold A. Fritz, Army
• Frank A. Herda, Army
• Robert R. Ingram, Navy
• Jack H. Jacobs, Army
• Don J. Jenkins, Army
• Thomas G. Kelley, Navy
• Allan J. Kellogg, Marine Corps
• Bob Kerrey, Navy
• Peter C. Lemon, Army
• Gary L. Littrell, Army
• James E. Livingston, Marine Corps
• Allen J. Lynch, Army
• Walter J. Marm Jr., Army
• James C. McCloughan, Army
• Robert J. Modrzejewski, Marine Corps
• Hugh R. Nelson Jr., Army
• Robert B. Nett, Army
• Robert M. Patterson, Army
• Clinton L. Pitts, Army
• Ronald J. Ray, Army
• Dennis F. Rembias, Army
• Michael L. Schultz, Army
• Clifford Chester Sims, Army
• Larry L. Taylor, Army
• William R. Wetzel, Army
• Hilliard A. Wilbanks, Army
• James A. Williams, Army

War in Afghanistan

• Kyle J. Carpenter, Marine Corps
• Ty M. Carter, Army
• Salvatore Giunta, Army
• Florent A. Groberg, Army
• Dakota Meyer, Marine Corps
• Leroy A. Petry, Army
• Earl D. Plumlee, Army
• Clinton L. Romesha, Army
• Ronald J. Shurer II, Army
• Britt K. Slabinski, Navy
• William D. Swenson, Army
• Matthew O. Williams, Army
• Kyle J. White, Army
• Thomas P. Payne, Army

War in Iraq

• David G. Bellavia, Army
• Edward C. Byers Jr., Navy

Korean War

• Walter D. Shadle, Army