Medal of Honor exhibit featured at new Wyoming Military facility

Photo By Sgt. Stewart Dyer | U.S. Army Tech. Sgt. Charles F. Carey’s Medal of Honor, rests in a display at the Wyoming Military Department’s Joint Forces Readiness Center, in Cheyenne, Wyo., after being presented by his sons, Richard Carey, center left, of Los Angles, and Ronald Carey, center right, from Salt Lake City, on behalf of their mother, Eva Carey, of Cheyenne, now deceased. Charles Carey was one of just five Medals of Honor presented to military personnel who entered service in Wyoming. To help the brothers recognize their father’s achievements are Wyoming’s two living Distinguished Service Cross recipients, Barry Gasdek, of Laramie, Wyo., left, and Lee Alley, of Wheatland, Wyo., right. The Distinguished Service Cross is second in precedence only to the Medal of Honor.  

CHEYENNE, WY, UNITED STATES

12.15.2010

Courtesy Story

Joint Force Headquarters - Wyoming National Guard

By Larry Barttelbort

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A Medal of Honor exhibit was recently unveiled during a private ceremony at the new Joint Forces Readiness Center, of the Wyoming Military Department, in Cheyenne. Army Tech. Sgt. Charles F. Carey Jr.’s Medal of Honor will be exhibited in the new building along with interpretive panels which celebrate Carey’s life, family and service.

The exhibit features a map of the battlefield of Rimling, France, where Carey performed his legendary deeds; several photographs, two pistols captured by Carey, his Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals, and the Medal of Honor.

The Medal of Honor, and related materials, are the gift of his surviving sons, Richard Carey, of Los Angeles, and Ronald Carey, of Salt Lake City. Richard Carey said, “It is our honor to present our father’s Medal of Honor, to be displayed here, in our hometown of Cheyenne. Our mother, Eva Carey, was a Cheyenne native, and it was her wishes that our father’s Medal of Honor be displayed for the greater good.”

The exhibit has special security provisions for the rare, and very unique Medal of Honor. The medal is one of five Medals of Honor which were awarded to military personnel who entered service in Wyoming.

Only 3,449 medals have been presented since the medal’s inception in 1861. More than half of the recipients were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, a testament to the valor and sacrifice of those who have earned the Medal of Honor. There are only 86 living recipients of the medal.

John Goss, director of the Wyoming Veteran’s Memorial Museum, in Casper, said, “We are honored to share the story of Tech. Sgt. Carey’s selfless sacrifice and valor. The gift of this medal, and other personal effects of the Carey family, ensure generations to come will learn of this remarkable story of personal courage and bravery under fire”.

The medal will be available for public viewing when the new facility is occupied during the spring of 2011. Carey's Medal of Honor citation can be found at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/2669/carey-charles-f-jr.php.

• Date Taken: 12.15.2010
• Date Posted: 12.28.2010 11:21
• Story ID: 62708
• Location: CHEYENNE, WY, US