Medal of Honor

My Great, great, grandfather, William H Osborne fought at Gettysburg. He was wounded on this site. Awarded the Medal of Honor. Went on to become a... more

by Bob and Nadine Johnston

Title

Medal of Honor

Artist

Bob and Nadine Johnston

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

My Great, great, grandfather, William H Osborne fought at Gettysburg. He was wounded on this site. Awarded the Medal of Honor. Went on to become a Judge in Massachusetts.
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We also had another ancestor Benjamin Flag, from my Grandmothers side of the family awarded the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg.
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Benjamin was wounded, sent back to a Hospital, wounds cared for and discharged from the Army, told to go home.
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But, he went outside, picked up a rifle and went back into the battle. He was given the Units American Flag, a symbol which showed the location of Headquarters and signaled to stand and fight.
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He was wounded again, fatally but managed to hold the flag up until another was able to take it. The Flag has been in the MA state house ever since, and has his blood upon it... Today due to its condition, and while being restored for better preservation, only the family is allowed to view it... Any family member may contact the State House, and make arrangements to view it.
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In the most recent generation, Jason Dunham, a cousin, was the first Marine awarded the Medal of Honor in Iraq. He was Killed in action serving our country, saving the lives of the men in his squad.
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Was once told by someone who was studying those awarded the Medal of Honor, our family was the first they had come across with three recipients of the MOH.
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We have had family serving in the military from our family, since Levi Osborne and his 11 sons served in the Revolution.
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Have served three tours in Korean War, my sons served, and grandsons have served. Others in the family, Uncles, cousins, nephews, etc have been serving. One Cousin has served five tours in Iraq....
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Thirteen Relatives served in WWII, one was in the service and at Pearl Harbor on December 7th. He eventually fought Island to Island northward through the Pacific in many of the worst battles, until the war ended. Fortunately he survived, but one Uncle was killed in action in the Battle of the Bulge.
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The Gettysburg National Military Park (GNMP) is an administrative unit of the National Park Service's northeast region and a subunit of federal properties of Adams County, Pennsylvania, with the same name, including the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The GNMP properties include most of the Gettysburg Battlefield, many of the battle's support areas during the battle (e.g., reserve, supply, & hospital locations), and several other non-battle areas associated with the battle's "aftermath and commemoration". The administrative unit also manages the adjacent Eisenhower National Historic Site subunit and displays a portion of their 43,000 American Civil War artifacts in the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center.
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The park has more wooded land than in 1863, and the National Park Service has an ongoing program to restore portions of the battlefield to their historical non-wooded conditions, as well as to replant historic orchards and woodlots that are now missing. In addition, the NPS is restoring native plants to meadows and edges of roads, to encourage habitat as well as provide for historic landscape. There are also considerably more roads and facilities for the benefit of tourists visiting the battlefield park.
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In 1915, the "National Park Commission" tested the battlefield guides and, due to the limited knowledge (particularly of the most experienced, e.g., only 1 in 8 could name the 7 avenues), established a school for licensing tour guides to charge fees.

Uploaded

May 12th, 2012