President Obama has approved a proposal to award a Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, to a Union Army officer who died standing his ground against Pickett's Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg, the White House said Tuesday. Medal of Honor recipients are normally selected within two years of their battlefield heroism, but Congress granted a special exception for Civil War soldier 1st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing in December at the urging of descendants and Civil War buffs.
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