Please read the excerpt from TaskAndPurpose.com below and write your Congress person.

A Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that a U.S. service member can receive. And while that honor should be reserved for bravest, most selfless among our troops, sometimes, it seems as though awards process misses in the mark.

The number of people who have earned the Medal of Honor in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars is relatively low. Comparatively, the Vietnam War awarded 258 Medals of Honor, and World War II had 464.

Earlier this year, the Defense Department announced that it would be looking into its evaluation for valor awards. As a result, thousands of service members and veterans previously awarded will be considered for medal upgrades.

In honor of National Medal of Honor Day,  Task & Purpose’s list of service members that could be awarded a Medal of Honor included SSG Michael Ollis.

The list of US Army Medal of Honor recipients that awarded the medal for conduct and valor while serving in Afghanistan can be found here: http://www.history.army.mil/moh/afghanistan.html .

Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis

A car bomb breached FOB Ghazni in Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013. After the explosion, al Qaeda fighters launched an assault on the base that involved grenades, mortars, rockets and at least 10 suicide bombers. Fighting beside Polish Lt. Karol Cierpica during the attack, Ollis was killed when he moved to shield Cierpica from a suicide bomber. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Audie Murphy Medallion, as well as the Polish government’s highest military award: the Polish Medal of Honor.