Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2016

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Wounded three
times, unable to walk and
facing an overwhelming
enemy force, Capt. James
E. Livingston carried on the
fight, leading Marines from
three different companies
in a brutal battle that helped turn the tide of the Vietnam
War. Two years later, he was awarded the Medal of
Honor, the highest accolade possible for a member of the
American armed services.
A retired general and a Mount Pleasant resident,
Livingston is fighting a different battle these days. As
one of 77 living recipients of the nation’s most coveted
honor and a member of the board of the National Medal
of Honor Museum Foundation, he’s trying to help raise
enough money to complete the National Medal of Honor
Museum on a 7.1-acre plot of land at Patriots Point before
the 12 remaining soldiers who earned the medal during
World War II and the Korean War pass away.
“They’re not going to be with us much longer,” said
Livingston.
The youngest living recipient from the Korean War is
85; the oldest from World War II is 96. The Website of
the Congressional Medal of Honor Society documents
why it’s important to build the museum as expeditiously as
possible. Four servicemen who earned the ultimate honor
The National Medal of Honor Museum will be built at Patriots Point
in Mount Pleasant, just a stone’s throw from the USS Yorktown.
Photo courtesy of Gen. James E. Livingston.