Of the millions of men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces throughout history, only about 3,400 have received the Medal of Honor, America's highest award for valor. Among those few are seven Virginia Tech alumni.

The number is particularly significant considering that a little more than half of the nation's medals were awarded during the Civil War, before Virginia Tech's founding.

The seven names are etched in a marble cenotaph, a symbolic tomb, at the center the court above War Memorial Chapel

Antoine August Michel Gaujot and Julien Edmund Victor Gaujot

Antoine Gaujot, Class of 1900, and Julien Gaujot, Class of 1893, are two of the few brothers to earn the Medal of Honor and the only pair to receive the medal for actions in different wars.

Antoine Gaujot received the medal for actions as an Army corporal at the Battle of San Mateo in 1899 during the Philippine Insurrection. He made persistent effort under heavy enemy rifle fire to locate a ford to help his unit cross the swollen river to attack. Unable to accomplish this, he swam with a companion again under fire and against a dangerous current across the river to the enemy side. There he secured an enemy canoe and returned it to the friendly side of the river.

Julien Gaujot, an Army captain, received the medal for actions on the Mexican Border in 1911. He is the only soldier awarded the medal for peacekeeping actions. In Douglas, Ariz., stray bullets from fighting among Mexican rebels and government troops caused American casualties. Gaujot crossed the border and moved between the two groups of belligerents for an hour under heavy fire. This secured the safe passage of the Mexican soldiers and American prisoners over the border to the United States. His actions saved five Americans taken prisoner by the Mexicans, 25 Mexican soldiers, plus Americans and Mexican rebels who would have died in continued fighting.