Cary DeVall Langhorne

### Carrying a wounded man from the Naval Academy

On 22 April 1914, Surgeon Cary Devall Langhorne was serving with the U.S. Navy landing force during the fight for Veracruz, Mexico. As American sailors and Marines advanced through the streets toward the Naval Academy, they came under heavy fire. Langhorne joined the effort to treat and evacuate the wounded. Near the Academy’s entrance, he went forward under fire and carried a wounded man away from the fighting. The brief Medal of Honor citation preserves that central act: a Navy surgeon personally brought a casualty out of an exposed position while the battle was still under way.

Langhorne was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on 14 May 1873. He attended the Virginia Military Institute, graduating in 1894, then earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1897. Commissioned as an assistant surgeon in the Navy in 1898, he served in the Philippines, where he was wounded at Novaleta, and later in Cuba. After Veracruz he left active Navy service in 1916, but returned during the First World War as senior surgeon aboard the transport President Grant. He was mustered out in 1919 and later practised medicine in Virginia. Langhorne died on 25 April 1948 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

### Medal of Honor citation

“For extraordinary heroism in battle, engagement of Vera Cruz, 22 April 1914. Surg. Langhorne carried a wounded man from the front of the Naval Academy while under heavy fire.”

### Sources

- Naval History and Heritage Command. “Navy Medical Corps Medal of Honor Recipients in the Battle of Vera Cruz.” Navy Medicine, 7 June 2024. - U.S. Army. “Langhorne, Cary DeVall.” Mexican Campaign (Vera Cruz) Medal of Honor citations, General Orders No. 177, 4 December 1915. - Virginia Military Institute Archives. “Cary Devall Langhorne.” Historical Rosters, Class of 1894. - Congressional Medal of Honor Society. “Cary Devall Langhorne.” Recipient profile.