1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)

2. Why has Sgt. Major Canley been awarded the Medal of Honor? (What did he do and when?) Be specific.

3. What is the Medal of Honor? Be specific. (see “Background” below the questions for details)

4. a) What did Sgt. Canley’s Navy Cross citation say about him?
b) What did John Ligato, one of the Marines who fought alongside Canley in Vietnam say about him?
c) How did Sgt. Canley react after hearing he would be awarded the Medal of Honor?
d) How would you describe his character, based on the answers above? (List at least 3 adjectives to describe Sgt. Canley’s character.)

5. a) Think about how much you know about each of the following people. Why are they famous?

• Mark Zuckerberg
• Drake
• Beyonce and Jay Z
• Jeff Bezos
• Taylor Swift
• Colin Kaepernick

b) How many heroes of the Vietnam War can you name? From the Iraq or Afghanistan Wars? Or from the Korean War, Gulf War, WWII… Why do you think this is so?

c) Why is it important for Americans to know the stories of Sgt. Major John Canley and other soldiers like him?

CHALLENGE: In addition to Sgt. Canley’s Medal of Honor to be awarded on October 17, Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II will receive the Medal of Honor on Oct. 1 for his actions as a Special Forces medic in Afghanistan in 2008. Do a search for stories on both of these heroes. Check out your own news source (where do you see news?) as well as the top sources: CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, New York Times, etc. How well did each of these news organizations cover these stories?