A public ceremony to honor the most recent three Washington state Medal of Honor recipients from Operation Enduring Freedom will be held at the Capitol Rotunda on April 2, 2014 at 11:00 am.
SFC Leroy A. Petry, SSG Ty M. Carter and CPT William D. Swenson all reside in this State and will be joined by at least two of the four Medal of Honor recipients also calling Washington home: COL Joe Jackson, Vietnam; MAJ Bruce Crandall, Vietnam; PFC Thomas Kinsman, Vietnam and PFC Wilburn Ross, World War II.
Governor Jay Inslee will be joined by MG Terry Ferrell, the Commanding General of the 7th Infantry Division at JBLM as keynote speakers.
The 56th I Corps Army Band brass quintet and the I Corps Color Guard will be participating, and the event’s Master of Ceremonies will be the director of the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs, Lourdes E. Alvarado-Ramos.
The names of Petry, Carter and Swenson will be unveiled at the Washington state Medal of Honor Monument on the Capitol campus following the indoor ceremony, bringing the total of MOH names on the monument to 91 and the total of living recipients in Washington State to seven.
See links below to read their Medal of Honor citations.
The last name added to the State’s Medal of Honor Monument was that of Major Bruce P. Crandall on April 16, 2007.
As of this release there are only six living Medal of Honor recipients from Operation Enduring Freedom in the United States.
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