On Veterans Day, many Floridians will pay tribute to those who have served in the nation’s military, and for football fans, more than a dozen Medal of Honor recipients will be honored at halftime during the Cowboys versus Giants NFL game on Sunday.
Retired Maj. Gen. Pat Brady, a Medal of Honor recipient, will be among the honorees. He served as a “dustoff pilot,” a helicopter ambulance pilot, during the Vietnam War. Brady is excited about any platform spreading the values symbolized by the Medal of Honor: courage, sacrifice and patriotism.
He anticipates construction of the National Medal of Honor Museum, aiming to inspire today’s youth.
“We’ve got a little problem in the country now with patriotism and some other things,” Brady pointed out. “The museum will be a great place for young people to go and see that America has no kings or queens, no dukes or duchesses, but we do have a nobility. America’s nobility is our veterans.”
Construction is underway for the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, with completion expected in spring 2025. The museum’s Leadership Institute, which hosts live conferences and workshops is now operational, and is named in recognition of GOP megadonor and businessman Ken Griffin.
The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation is also spearheading efforts to build a monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Chris Cassidy, president and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, expects a vote by Congress to determine the monument’s exact location.
“The wording is that it will be within a thousand feet of the Lincoln Memorial,” Cassidy outlined. “Because President Lincoln was the president that put the Medal of Honor into existence, back in 1863.”
The Medal of Honor is awarded to all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, as the nation’s highest recognition for valor in combat.
