周三，两名162年前参与美国首批特种作战的联邦士兵被追授荣誉勋章。
“今天我们纠正了那个错误。今天，他们终于得到了他们应得的认可，”乔·拜登总统在白宫的一个仪式上说。
二等兵乔治·威尔森和二等兵沙德拉克的后代接到了期待已久的来自白宫的电话，告诉他们这位内战英雄将因在捍卫联邦的过程中“勇敢无畏”而被授予国家最高军事荣誉。
他们说，总统在另一条线路上，邀请二等兵威尔逊的曾曾孙女特里萨·钱德勒(Theresa Chandler)和二等兵沙德拉赫的曾侄杰拉尔德·泰勒(Gerald Taylor)代表这些人接受勋章，这些人作为24名志愿者的一部分，以前所未有的勇气潜入南部联盟的防线。
穿便衣充当间谍的联邦士兵设法渗透到200英里外的联邦领地，在那里他们劫持了一辆火车——“将军”——并把它从佐治亚州开往田纳西州，行驶了87英里。
1862年4月12日，在被称为“伟大的机车追逐”的行动中，联盟突袭者摧毁了南方联盟的铁轨和电报线，赢得了19枚荣誉勋章，成为第一批获得荣誉勋章的军队士兵。
这个野心勃勃的阴谋，尽管造成了巨大的破坏，还是失败了。士兵们被俘虏了。一些人逃脱了，并在战后获得了他们的勋章，而包括威尔逊和沙德拉赫在内的八名袭击者则被邦联审判并处以绞刑。
由于历史学家的疏忽，威尔逊和沙德拉赫在死后从未获得该奖项。
列兵沙德拉赫的后代罗恩·沙德拉赫志愿参加这项任务时只有21岁，他和历史学家布拉德·奎林联手推动沙德拉赫和威尔逊的案子。2008年国会法案的文本甚至为威尔逊和沙德拉赫获得荣誉扫清了道路，但一些家庭说，出于类似“繁文缛节”的原因，这个电话根本就没有打来。
Shadrach和Quinlin在2012年相遇，并为他们的案件做了12年，但即使在他们之前，一个二等兵Shadrach的亲戚给吉米·卡特总统写信。
在拜登政府的初期，两位前将军——一位是四星上将——加入了沙德拉赫和昆林的努力。
奎林认为，这项被白宫描述为美国历史上第一次特别行动的秘密任务，如果成功的话，将会使内战缩短两年之久。
“我的意思是这些都是普通公民——一个劳动者，一个木匠，”他说。
“他们入伍了。他们不是被征召入伍的;他们自愿入伍。然后突然你得到消息，你知道，我们在招募志愿者来做什么?去100英里外的邦联领地偷一辆火车。他们留了下来。他们得到了一次机会，他们本可以在那之后离开，但他们还是留了下来。”
“我想，除非我们真的做过，否则我们真的知道这需要多大的勇气吗?”
据报道，在他们被绞死之前，二等兵威尔逊在绞刑架上发表了一个简短的讲话，他在讲话中说，他对自己帮助拯救联邦的行为并不后悔。
罗恩·沙德拉克说:“他宣称，他们将再次看到美国国旗在他们身上飘扬。”。
两年后，他们会。
沙德拉克为此案花费了超过12年的时间来纠正历史记录，但最重要的是，他说，他这样做是为了他祖先的牺牲。
“我们真的无法理解他们经历了什么，”这位俄亥俄州人说，一场包括鞭打和酷刑在内的监禁。
“我曾想为我的国家服务，但我没有，”沙德拉克说。“所以现在我能够这样做了……”他哽咽着说，似乎在考虑这一时刻——这是一个向162年前的一天致敬的日子，他为此奋斗了很久。
“我认为这是任何普通美国人都会做的事情，”他说。“这是我们的工作。”
昆林在他的工作中研究了荣誉勋章获得者的行为，他说这个奖项——在美国历史上授予了大约3500名战士——记录了美国在战场上的故事。
“如果我不认为这是正确的事情，我不会接受这个项目。我理解荣誉勋章。我理解我们的军队今天的处境。每个军人都尊敬荣誉勋章获得者。就连将军也会给荣誉勋章获得者让座，”他说。
一位未来的荣誉勋章获得者在20世纪60年代救了昆林父亲的命菲律宾在第二次世界大战中，他在抗击日本人的战斗中丧生。
“我在这里是因为威廉姆·肖克利在1945年3月31日的所作所为。我理解荣誉勋章的英勇和牺牲，”昆林说。
Biden awards Medal of Honor to Civil War heroes, 162 years later
Two Union soldiers who 162 years ago took part in one of America's first special operations were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Wednesday.
"Today we right that wrong. Today they finally receive the recognition they deserve," President Joe Biden said at a White House ceremony.
Descendants of Pvt. George Wilson and Pvt. Shadrach had received a long-awaited call from the White House telling them the Civil War heroes would be awarded the nation's highest military honor for "gallantry and intrepidity" in defense of the Union.
The president was on the other line, they said, inviting Theresa Chandler, the great-great-granddaughter of Pvt. Wilson, and Gerald Taylor, the great-great-nephew of Pvt. Shadrach, to accept the medal on behalf of the men who, as a part of a group of 24 volunteers, snuck behind Confederate lines in an act of unprecedented bravery.
The Union soldiers -- acting as spies in civilian clothing -- managed to penetrate 200 miles into Confederate territory, where they commandeered a train -- "The General" -- and drove it 87 miles from Georgia to Tennessee.
In what became known as "The Great Locomotive Chase," on April 12, 1862, the Union raiders destroyed Confederate railroad tracks and telegraph lines -- earned 19 of the men Medals of Honor, becoming the first group of Army soldiers to receive it.
The ambitious plot, despite wreaking havoc, failed. The soldiers were captured. Some escaped and received their medals after the war, while a group of eight of the raiders -- including Wilson and Shadrach -- were tried and hanged by the Confederacy.
Because of what historians attribute to an oversight, Wilson and Shadrach never received the award posthumously.
Ron Shadrach, a descendant of Pvt. Shadrach, who was only 21 when he volunteered for the mission, and historian Brad Quinlin, teamed up to push Shadrach and Wilson's case. Text from a 2008 act of Congress even cleared the way for Wilson and Shadrach to be honored, but for reasons resembling "red tape," some family said, the call simply never came.
Shadrach and Quinlin met in 2012 and made their case for 12 years, but even before them, a relative of Pvt. Shadrach was sending letters to President Jimmy Carter.
At the outset of the Biden Administration, two former generals -- one a four-star -- joined Shadrach and Quinlin's efforts.
Quinlin believes the clandestine mission, which the White House describes as one of the first special operations in United States history, if successful, would have shortened the Civil War by as long as two years.
"I mean these were common citizens -- a laborer, a carpenter," he said.
"They enlisted. They weren't drafted; they enlisted voluntarily. And then all of a sudden you're getting the word, you know, we're asking for volunteers to come do what? Go in to a hundred miles of Confederate territory to steal a train. They stayed on. They were given a chance, they could have left after that, but they stayed on."
"I guess, unless we've really done it, do we really know what courage that took?"
Before they were hanged, Pvt. Wilson is reported to have given a brief speech from the gallows in which he said he did not regret his action to help save the Union.
"He proclaimed that they would yet see the flag of the United States wave over them again," Ron Shadrack said.
Two years later, they would.
Shadrack labored over the case for more than 12 years to rectify the historical record, but, above all, he said, he did so in service of his ancestor's sacrifices.
"We can't really comprehend what they went through," the Ohio native said, a bout of imprisonment that including lashing and torture.
"I had wanted to serve my country, and I hadn't," Shadrack said. "And so now I've been able to do this…" he said, choking up, seemingly reckoning with this moment – a present day that would pay tribute to a day 162 years ago for which he has so long fought.
"And I think it's, it's something that any ordinary American would do," he said. "It's what we do."
Quinlin, who in his work has studied the acts of Medal of Honor recipients, said the award -- given to some 3,500 warfighters in U.S. history -- has documented the American story on the battlefield.
"I wouldn't have taken the project on if I didn't feel it was the right thing to do. I understand the Medal of Honor. I understand where it stands today with our military. And every military person looks up to a Medal of Honor recipients. Even generals take a seat to a Medal of Honor recipient," he said.
A future Medal of Honor recipient saved Quinlin's father's life in thePhilippinesin World War II, losing his life as he fought off the Japanese.
"I am here because of what William Shockley did on March 31st, 1945. I understand the valor and sacrifice of the Medal of Honor," Quinlin said.
