For once, Congress didn’t argue over what these men are worth. It simply admitted, almost in silence, that the number had been insultingly low for far too long. The proposed increase to $67,500 a year is less a reward than a late confession: the country has leaned on these sixty living recipients to carry memory, trauma, and patriotism on their backs, often on their own dime. They revisit the worst days of their lives so the rest of us don’t forget what war really costs.
Yet no check can balance that ledger. The story of Maj. James Capers, still waiting for the Medal of Honor itself, exposes the gap between rhetoric and reality. A man who tried to die so others could live now watches lawmakers debate the value of sacrifice. The raise is meaningful. The wounds it acknowledges are immeasurable.