Highlights from 2008 – 2009
Citizen Service Before Self Honors was previously known as Above & Beyond Citizen Honors. Despite the slight name change to better reflect the award’s intentions, the prestige, selection criteria and process, and support by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society remain unaltered.
On March 25, 2008, the second annual National Medal of Honor Day, in the shadow of the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society presented the first Above & Beyond Citizen Honors to three ordinary Americans who had gone above and beyond on behalf of their fellow man.
Each recipient of the Above & Beyond Citizen Honors was presented with a Medal molded to include the figures that are sculpted on the East side of the Tomb of the Unknowns, representing Peace, Victory, and Valor, signifying the link between anonymous heroism in and out of uniform. General Colin Powell officiated at the ceremony attended by more than 30 Medal of Honor recipients.
This same tradition occurred the following year, 2009, and will be repeated each year to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of Americans serving one another.
