On National Medal of Honor Day, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Arlington National Cemetery honored the extraordinary courage and sacrifices of those who have received our nation’s highest military award for valor.
Medal of Honor recipients gathered at ANC for an Armed Forces Full-Honors Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. U.S. Marine Corps Col. H.C. “Barney” Barnum Jr., a Medal of Honor recipient, described it as “a day to pause, reflect and rededicate ourselves to what this medal stands for.”
Arlington National Cemetery remembers all who went above and beyond the call of duty to earn the Medal of Honor.
(U.S. Army Video by Derek Patterson / Arlington National Cemetery)
Richard A. Kibbey Jr. was only 12 years old when an Air Force chaplain, a lieutenant colonel and an enlisted airman knocked on his family’s front door. “I knew immediately it was not good news,” he remembered. His father and namesake, Col. Richard Kibbey, had been serving in Vietnam as an HH-3E “Jolly Green Giant” helicopter pilot, rescuing downed flight crews. On Feb. 6, 1967, Col. Kibbey and his crew had just rescued a downed Air...
