President Donald Trump signed legislation on Thursday authorizing the future National Medal of Honor Monument to be located within the Reserve of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., near the Lincoln Memorial. The signing ceremony took place at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas.
The legislation, named the Hershel "Woody" Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act, does not create the monument itself, which Congress previously authorized in 2021. Instead, it designates a site within a protected area of the National Mall that includes many of the capital's prominent monuments and memorials. President Trump met with more than a dozen Medal of Honor recipients before the signing.
"We're privileged to have with us 15 of the 65 living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor," Trump said during the event. He recounted the heroism of Hershel "Woody" Williams, a Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima and was the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient before his death in 2022.
"In the Battle of Iwo Jima, he carved a path to American victory, literally carved a path, so soldiers could get in and win through a deadly gantlet of enemy strongholds," Trump said. "And back and forth, he went. He just kept going back and forth. And one machine gun nest after another. He knocked [them] out, and he did it for hours and hours. People said they've never seen anything quite like it."
Charlotte Jones, Chairman of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, stated that 16 of the nation's 65 living Medal of Honor recipients were present. She described the museum not as a war museum, but as a place "about heart, about courage, about sacrifice and patriotism." According to the foundation, the effort to create and locate the monument has received unanimous bipartisan support in Congress over six years.
The monument's precise site on the National Mall has not yet been selected. The National Park Service will determine the specific location, after which the foundation will initiate a design competition. Construction of the monument will be funded through private donations, with no federal funds allocated for the project.
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the signing was intended to recognize the recipients' service and sacrifice. "Medal of Honor recipients represent the very best of America. President Trump honored their courage today, and a new monument will ensure the nation never forgets their valor and sacrifice," Huston said.