Dr. Mary Edwards Walker: The Woman Who Refused to Give Back Her Medal
In 1917, the U.S. government sent an elderly woman a letter demanding she return her Medal of Honor.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, 84 years old, replied with one word: “No.”
She had worn that medal every single day since 1865 — and she would wear it until she died.
Fifty-eight years later, the government admitted she’d been right all along.
MBorn in 1832 on a New York farm, Mary grew up with radical parents who believed girls deserved the same education as boys. Her father taught her carpentry and medicine; her mother taught her independence — even throwing out corsets at fifteen, because she refused to let clothing restrict her body or her future.
In 1855, Mary graduated from Syracuse Medical College, one of America’s first female doctors. But no one would hire a “lady doctor.” Patients mocked her. Her marriage collapsed. She kept her own name — scandalous at the time — and waited for her chance to prove herself.
That chance came with the Civil War.
In 1861, she volunteered as a surgeon for the Union Army. They told her no — women could nurse, not operate. But Mary went to the battlefield anyway, unpaid and uninvited, tending to the wounded under fire. Her courage and skill eventually earned her an official appointment as the first female surgeon in the U.S. Army.
She treated soldiers in active combat zones, often venturing behind enemy lines to help civilians. In 1864, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, she was captured by Confederate troops, accused of espionage, and imprisoned in the notorious Castle Thunder prison.
After four brutal months, she was released in a prisoner exchange — frail but unbroken.
Later that year, President Andrew Johnson awarded her the Medal of Honor for her bravery and service. She became the first and only woman to receive it.
After the war, Mary turned her fire toward women’s rights. She lectured, wrote, and campaigned for suffrage, equal pay, and practical clothing for women. She wore men’s suits and top hats, was arrested several times for “impersonating a man,” and defended herself in court — always wearing her Medal of Honor.
Then in 1917, Congress changed the rules for the award, revoking 911 Medals of Honor given for non-combat service — including Mary’s. She refused to return it.
Until her death in 1919, she wore it proudly, pinned over her heart like armor.
She was buried with it on her chest.
Decades later, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter reviewed her record and restored her medal. The government finally admitted what history already knew:
Mary had earned it.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker remains the only woman ever awarded the Medal of Honor.
She didn’t wait for permission. She didn’t wait for society to catch up.
She lived as if the rules were wrong — and, in time, the world realized she was right.
Her story reminds us that sometimes being ahead of your time means not living to see it.
But when the world finally catches up, your medal — and your legacy — are still right where they belong.
