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SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to build a monument to Medal of Honor recipients near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington.
Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, sponsored HR2717, or the Herschel "Woody" Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act, and said the measure passed "just in time for Veterans Day."
The bill is named for Marine Cpl. Herschel Williams, who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II and fought in the battle of Iwo Jima. Williams was awarded the Medal of Honor — the military's highest recognition for valor in combat — by President Harry Truman and was the last recipient of the medal from World War II to die.
"(Truman) recognized his aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty through this fiercely contested action," Moore said of Williams' deeds during the famous battle. "Since its inception by President (Abraham) Lincoln in 1862, 3,517 brave soldiers have received the nation's highest honor for going above and beyond the call of duty and risking life and limb in selfless service to their countrymen."
By building a monument to Medal of Honor recipients near the memorial to the 16th U.S. president, "we can pay the fitting tribute to the president who established the award and embodies its principles," the congressman said.
HR2717 is the final legislative step in creating the monument, after President Joe Biden signed the National Medal of Honor Monument Act in December 2021. Moore was also the sponsor of that bill.
Moore said he envisions the monument as an educational tool, as well as a reminder to Americans of the sacrifices made and bravery demonstrated by service members throughout the nation's history.
"Today our nation finds itself sharply divided along partisan lines. This monument will remind our great nation that ... there are far more that unites us than divides us," he said. "It is my hope that constructing this monument in its rightful place will inspire Americans and allow us to pay our respects, to learn from these individuals and these families, who, in Lincoln's words, 'have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.'"
