Mary Walker's Medal Defied Erasure

American surgeon Dr. Mary Edwards Walker remains the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. During the Civil War, she became the first female surgeon employed by the US Army, treated wounded people in battle, and crossed enemy lines to care for civilians. Confederate troops captured her in 1864 after she helped perform an amputation and imprisoned her in Richmond until a prisoner exchange. She received the medal in 1865, and although the Army removed her name from the Medal of Honor Roll in 1917, it restored her honor in 1977.

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