The First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society present a rare opportunity to meet a Medal of Honor recipient. Staff Sergeant David G. Bellavia (U.S. Army ret.) will visit Cantigny Monday, May 8, for a special event in the Museum’s Date with History series. “Conversation with a Medal of Honor Recipient” will begin at 7 p.m. Central.
The free program will take place in person at the Cantigny Park Visitors Center and online. Registration is required for both in-person and online attendees at FDMuseum.org.
Bellavia was awarded the Medal of Honor for “acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty” November 10, 2004, while serving as a squad leader in support of Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq. His heroic efforts that day saved the lives of his unit members.
First presented in 1863, the Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest award for military valor in action. In the moments that mattered, each of the 3,516 recipients displayed a deep love of country and extraordinary measures of courage, integrity and sacrifice. Only 65 medal recipients are alive today. We are deeply honored to welcome one of them to Cantigny.
A 1st Infantry Division veteran, Bellavia enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1999 and chose to stay and fight following the September 11 terror attacks in 2001. He served three military campaigns: Kosovo 2003 and Operation Iraqi Freedom I and Operation Iraqi Freedom II. His sense of duty was inspired by his World War II veteran grandfather, who served in the Army during the Normandy Campaign.
Bellavia retired from the Army in 2005, returning home to the western part of New York and founding Vets for Freedom, an advocacy organization. In 2019, he founded Deuce Deuce Relief Fund, which supports the soldiers of his former Task Force 2-2 in Iraq.
Bellavia traveled to Iraq as an embedded reporter covering heavy fighting in 2006 and 2008, and in 2007 wrote “House to House,” a book detailing his experiences in Fallujah that is considered one of the best first-hand military accounts ever written. He wrote a second book in 2022, “Remember the Ramrods: An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace.”
Bellavia’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, the National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, New York State Conspicuous Service Cross, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO Medal. He was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame in 2005.
Today, Bellavia travels the country as a speaker, sharing the important message of service over self. He is a sought-after source for national media.
—First Division Museum at Cantigny Park