
” We really did not do it for acknowledgment. We did it out of obligation to each other and to our nation.”
Those are the simple words of Pfc. John Wardell, 99, as he and united state Military Ranger experts from The second world war were bestowed the Congressional Gold Medal on Thursday.
” To be a Ranger is to obey a code: Guts. Sacrifice. Solve,” Wardell claimed. “That heritage survives on in every Ranger that adheres to. Our slogan has actually stood the examination of time, and it constantly will. Rangers blaze a trail!”
Wardell, that offered in E Firm, second Ranger Squadron, signed up with Sgt. Joe Drake as 2 of 5 enduring Military Rangers– amongst greater than 6,500 that offered in WWII– for a patriotic event in Emancipation Hall at the United State Capitol.

Sgt. Joseph J. Drake, Pfc. John M. Wardell are signed up with by Protection Assistant Pete Hegseth, standing from 3rd left, and Audio speaker of your house Mike Johnson as the Military Rangers of The Second World War are recognized at a Legislative Gold Medal event, at the Capitol in Washington, June 26, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
” In behalf of all the Rangers, I approve this unique honor,” Drake, 100, claimed. “I want to give thanks to each participant of this Congress for offering me and every Ranger this phenomenal honor.”
The Legislative Gold Medal, which is struck from 24-karat gold, is the highest possible noncombatant honor provided by Congress to individuals that have actually made a significant and enduring effect on American background and society.
” This band of siblings is so deserving, and today, to be honest, is long past due,” Residence Audio speaker Mike Johnson claimed. “They developed the spearhead of American unique procedures in the 2nd Globe Battle, and today, we reveal our most extensive gratefulness for their brave payments with the highest possible honor that this body can present, which is the Legislative Gold Medal.”
Today noted the 159th time that Congress has actually granted the medal. Varying from its initial recipient George Washington to Robert Frost, Walt Disney, Rosa Parks and the Tuskegee Airmen, Audio speaker Johnson said the united state Military Rangers that offered in The second world war originated from “every edge of American life,” from welders and stewards to manufacturing facility hands and artists.

Sgt. Joseph J. Drake, facility, is accompanied by Residence Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the Military Rangers of The Second World War are recognized at a Legislative Gold Medal event, at the Capitol in Washington, June 26, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
” There were normal males phoned call to phenomenal valiance, that gazed fatality in the face and by the elegance of God, attained the extraordinary and protected liberty,” Johnson claimed. “They were America’s finest.”
That belief was bipartisan, as legislative leaders and army authorities recognized the Rangers.
” What the Military Rangers attained in Normandy, they did once more and time and again throughout the battle, throughout every cinema, versus frustrating probabilities,” Us senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed. “With the destiny of the totally free globe on the line, Military Rangers blazed a trail.”
It was throughout the D-Day intrusion on the coastlines of Normandy in France that the Rangers acquired their slogan.

Audio Speaker of your house Mike Johnson offers D-Day professional and previous leader of 1st Ranger Squadron retired Military Ranger Sgt. Joseph J. Drake with a Legislative Gold Medal throughout an event on Capitol Hillside on June 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
Adhering To the USA’ strikes versus Iran’s nuclear websites last weekend break and a journey with Head of state Donald Trump to a NATO top at The Hague previously today, Assistant of Protection Pete Hegseth showed up at the event, as did Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Personnel.
” Today we commemorate actual heroes,” Hegseth claimed. “We direct the limelight precisely where it should have to go.”
” It is entirely suitable and appropriate that we are below today recognizing these 2 males and the various other 3 in your home, and all the Military Rangers of Globe Battle 2 and all generations that have actually agreed to place all of it on the line for the remainder people,” Hegseth claimed. “There are heroes amongst us, normal individuals that did phenomenal points.”