For the fifth consecutive year, American Legion Mountaineer Post 174 in Morgantown, W.Va., conducted a ceremony for National Medal of Honor Day on March 25.

On that date, veterans from Post 174, American Legion Post 2, VFW Post 9916 and VFW Post 548 gathered to commemorate two Medal of Honor recipients who are buried in East Oak Grove Cemetery. A brief service was held at the grave of Civil War veteran Levi Shomaker. It began with an invocation by Post 174 Chaplain James Seargeant and proceeded with a reading of both award citations by Past Post Commander Matthew Sampson.

Shomaker received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Nineveh, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley on Nov. 12, 1864, during which he captured the flag of the 22nd Virginia Cavalry.

Morgantown native Thomas Bennett was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for his valor in Vietnam during the period of Feb. 9-11, 1969. He distinguished himself as a medic, repeatedly exposing himself to intense enemy fire to render lifesaving first aid to wounded soldiers and then carrying them to safety. Bennett was mortally wounded while attempting to reach a wounded soldier in a forward position under heavy enemy grazing fire.

The ceremony ended with the placement of a Medal of Honor recipient flag at each grave.