The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States.

Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it.

I'm J.R. Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself.

And I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of

Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and I Heart podcast.

From Bud Day, who survived more than five years in the Vietnamese prison, to Alvin York, the most famous soldier of World War I.

These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor going above and beyond the call of duty.

You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice.

Listen to Medal of Honor wherever you get your podcast.

Hello, all, just a note for me before we get into this, I want to explain that this episode contains mention of racist policies,

beliefs, and actions, and contains outdated strong language, which has been used for historical

context and accuracy.

I'm looking at a glass plate negative. It has that eerie three-dimensional quality so common in old photographs.

But in so many ways, it is an ordinary school portrait.

Two rows of boys, students.

There's a lot of them.

First row seated, back one standing.

They're posing in front of a two-story brick building, a white wooden railing stretches along the second floor balcony.

White posts support the overhang.

The structure is flanked by trees, their leaves ghosted by the photographs age.

The rows of boys are flanked as well, but by two tall men, likely their teachers.

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