The board’s decision was not, in the strict legal sense, a finding that Walker’s service had been unworthy or that the original award had been a mistake. It was a finding that the award did not meet 1917 standards when judged by 1917 criteria. This distinction mattered to those who criticized the rescission: the original award was legitimate under the standards that existed when it was made, and retroactive application of different standards to strike it from the rolls was itself questionable.
## The Congressional Gold Medal Question
A note on terminology that the article’s guardrails specifically flag: the Congressional Gold Medal and the Medal of Honor are distinct recognitions that serve different purposes and are awarded by different processes.
The Medal of Honor is a military decoration authorized by Congress and awarded by the President or, in some historical cases, by the Army Secretary acting on presidential authority. It is primarily (since 1917) a recognition of conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in combat. Walker received the Medal of Honor. The Congressional Gold Medal is Congress’s highest civilian honor, awarded by Congress through legislation and presented at a Capitol ceremony. The Ghost Army received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2024. The Tuskegee Airmen received it. The Nisei soldiers of the 442nd received it.
These are different things. Walker’s restoration in 1977 restored her Medal of Honor — the military decoration she had been awarded in 1865. It was not a Congressional Gold Medal. The two recognitions are sometimes confused in popular accounts, and the confusion is worth avoiding because it misrepresents what Walker received and what was taken from her.