FEINGOLD ANNOUNCES ARMY APPROVAL OF MEDAL OF HONOR FOR WISCONSIN CIVIL WAR HERO Feingold Helped Citizen Group Petition for Alonzo Cushing to Receive the Highest Military Decoration
BigNews.Biz - Mar 09,2010 - U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced that the U.S. Army is recommending that Delafield native and Civil War Hero Alonzo Cushing be awarded the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor. In 2003, Feingold had helped a group of citizens, including several Wisconsinites, petition the Army to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Cushing, who died at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. In a letter to Feingold, Secretary of the Army John McHugh stated that the Army recommended the decoration be given to Cushing, writing that he “clearly distinguished himself through his courageous actions.”
“This is a tremendous honor made possible by a group of devoted citizens with immense pride in Alonzo Cushing’s actions and Wisconsin history,” Feingold said. “I am grateful to have been able to help secure this very prestigious and well-deserved honor for a Wisconsin hero who fought valiantly and gave his life for his country.”
“Since the erection of the Cushing Monument in Delafield, WI on May 31, 1915 by the Waukesha County Historical Society, the Cushing name has been permanently etched into the hearts of our community,” said Kirsten Lee Villegas, Executive Director of the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum. “It is gratifying to see almost 100 years later the incredible honor being bestowed on a young man who died for his country at only 22 years of age. Alonzo H. Cushing’s recognition of heroic service though the Medal of Honor 147 years after his death in the Civil War serves as a very humbling reminder of those you have served and continue to serve as American patriots in service to our country. We are indeed grateful that this high honor has been bestowed on one of our hometown Waukesha County heroes by the United States Army.”
Created in 1861, the Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government to service members for valor in action against an enemy force. It is often presented by the President of the United States to the recipient, or in the case of posthumous awards, to the next of kin. Recipients can be nominated in two ways – either by a service member in the chain of command or by a member of Congress, which then requires approval by a special act of Congress.
Read Feingold’s 2003 letter to the Army in support of the application to award Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor here.
Read Army Secretary John McHugh’s recent response recommending approval of the nomination here.
About Alonzo Cushing
Alonzo H. Cushing of Delafield, Wisconsin graduated from West Point Academy in 1861. He fought in several Civil War battles, including the Battle of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Antietam and earned the rank of First Lieutenant. At Antietam, he personally saved his battery from capture.
Cushing is probably best remembered for his action at Gettysburg. At the height of “Pickett’s Charge,” Cushing’s battery was at the center of the rebel objective. While defending Cemetery Ridge from the oncoming Confederate Army,
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