The federal government recognizes 30 Civil WarEra Medal of Honor recipients as being from Iowa, but in Profiles of Valor, Dennis H. Black takes the task further, including those who have even a slight connection to Iowa, resulting in 56 men and one woman who received the medal. The book begins with a standard introduction to the war and Iowas part in it, an introduction as good as most and better than many. Black then goes on to explain the history of the medal itself, an important part of the book that others might have neglected. He explains his thorough methodology and briefly describes the kind of actions that resulted in the medal being awarded. The rest of the book and its heart and soul is a series of military stories from various aspects of the war, ranging from an Iowa connection to the famous Andrews Railroad Raid of 1862 to battlefield stories from many of the wars bloodiest struggles, even including stories of sailors with links to Iowa. Resource can be used with the following standards to further develop lessons: SS-US 9-12.23 Iowans Influence US History.
