Jacob Parrott, the youngest (I recall) of the survivors of Andrews Raiders during the American Civil War, was the first who came to my mind. Donlon was the first recipient for the Vietnam War, close to a century later.
Parrott's wikipedia page says Secretary of War Edwin M.Stanton presented the medal to him.
"The Great Locomotive Chase; a History of the Andrews Railroad Raid into Georgia in 1862," 1889. William Pittenger mentions "they were in the ante-room waiting" (page 411). Parrott was presented the medal on page 413. https://archive.org/details/greatlocomotivec00pitt_3/page/412/mode/2up?q=stanton
The White House is not mentioned but I don't know where else they would be.
Let me add more confusion to this answer.
"The War Department moved into a comparable structure northwest of the White House, north of its old location where the Navy Department remained in the Southwest Executive Building. It also occupied the Winder Building across the street after it completion in 1848. During the Civil War, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton added two floors to the War Department building. Abraham Lincoln would walk over from the White House to get updates from the War Department telegraph operators in the Army's headquarters....
In 1870, the US Congress decided to construct a new building west of the White House to house the State War, and Navy departments." http://www.virginiaplaces.org/military/beforethepentagon.html
Parrott most likely received his medal in the War Depart building and not the White House. Is Robert E. Cox the first to receive his medal in the White House as my first link mentions?
looney_tunes Moderator 20 year member
3343 replies
Answer has 0 votes.
I found a source I cannot locate again that referred to Stanton presenting Parrott's medal in his office, which would be in the War Department building. So that combined with serpa's links seems to me to settle the issue.
There appears to be a lot of confusion about the answer to this question. It seems that the first person to actually receive his medal at the White House was Silvestre S. Herrera, on August 23, 1945. It was presented to him by Truman. Before this, no medals were actually given at the White House.
Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.