Medal of Honor Legacy: War on Terror

This seminar is full. We hope you can join us for an alternate seminar, workshop, or summit opportunity. Over six days, participants will study the events surrounding the American War on Terror as a separate phenomenon from the Iraq War. From the 2025 perspective, we can investigate the Iraq War as a continuation of the earlier Persian Gulf War.

The course will explore the rise of radical Islam, especially the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda.  We will see Al Qaeda’s hostility towards the United States stemming from American troops being stationed in Saudia Arabia with Desert Sheid and remaining there after Desert Strom.  The Americans had agreed to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraq (or Iran) in 1981 when we asked them to lower fuel costs and sold them AWAC spy planes. We will explore the Al Qaeda attack on 9-11 and the American response in Afghanistan.

We will explore the separate Iranian terror network and its proxies in Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Teachers will investigate the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and their operation as a self-proclaimed caliphate, along with its destruction, by early 2019.

Each day will be comprised of lectures and discussions led by academic scholars. Program participants will also interact with a Medal of Honor Recipient who will share his experience in these conflicts and whose actions represent the values and virtues of character development. Teachers will visit the 9/11 Museum and Memorial in New York City to understand better American values and principles resulting from the War on Terror.

A master teacher will provide instruction on using the Medal of Honor Character Development Program curriculum and digital tools developed by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Teachers must establish a supplementary curriculum guided by their state American History Standards. To augment curriculum design, in-person narratives by Medal of Honor recipients and tours of the Founding Forward Medal of Honor Grove will be primary materials for developing participant-designed curricula.

Thanks to a generous donor, Founding Forward will provide a $150 stipend to every accepted teacher to help offset expenses related to attending a summer professional development seminar, workshop, or summer in 2025. Upon completion of the program, teachers will receive a $150 check to help cover travel, childcare, or any other expenses they might incur. 

Accepted teachers receive a scholarship to attend the program, which covers the cost of the program, hotel room, program materials, site visits, most meals, and more.

Graduate credit will be offered by La Salle University. Pennsylvania teachers will receive Act 48 credit for this seminar.