A quick follow up to my last post regarding the story of the Four Chaplains.
As time passed, the story of the chaplains' heroism spread, resulting in a movement to award the chaplains the Medal of Honor. However, the Medal of Honor is reserved for heroism while engaged in combat with the enemy. Consequently, it was deemed that the chaplains did not qualify.
Congress decided, in 1960, to create a special medal to honor the chaplains, specific to them and to be regarded as a rough equivalent of the Medal of Honor. The Four Chaplains' Medal was presented to descendants of the chaplains in 1961.
I think it is the rarest such honor ever given by Congress.