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Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Courage: UW Alumni who have Received the Congressional Medal of Honor

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"Medals of Honor (left to right): Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine"

Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Learning Commons
First-floor display area

Eight UW alumni hold the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor, and the university is honoring them with a memorial near the heart of campus.

To tell the tales behind the eight men, Odegaard is hosting a display of letters, photographs, medals and other material lent by the medal recipients and their families. Things like letters Second Lieutenant Robert Leisy wrote in the months before he died protecting his men in Vietnam. Colonel Archie Van Winkle's letter from President Harry Truman in which Truman says that if he had a choice between the medal and the presidency, he'd choose the medal. There's also Brigadier General Robert Galer's Medal of Honor.

The exhibit opened Nov. 6 and continues until Dec. 18. On Veterans Day, the library will open at 10:30 a.m. See Odegaard information regarding other hours.