America’s bravest of the brave are coming together for the 2011 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention, marking the 150th anniversary of the award. This is the first time that such a gathering is being held.

More than 50 Medal of Honor recipients and their families will convene in Louisville, Kentucky, for the convention, which will begin on Wednesday and will last for five days. Convention activities will include school visits, receptions, a public “walk of heroes,” and an awards dinner.

Among those who will attend the gathering is Wilburn Ross, whose courageous actions in France in 1944 earned him the Medal of Honor. “It’s good for me and all the guys to get together,” Ross shared. Retired Army Command Sergeant Major Gary Lee Littrell, recognized for courageous actions during the Vietnam War, shared that the gathering will give this select group of individuals a chance to foster the strong bond that can only exist between people who were able to gain recognition for their courage, but live with the burden of having survived when their comrades did not. Littrell said: “None of us feel we deserve the medal… We had a job to do.”

The Medal of Honor was first authorized in 1861, and since that time, more than 3,465 Medal of Honor recipients have been recognized for their courage and bravery in combat situations. The military said that the Medal Of Honor is “awarded sparingly and bestowed only to the bravest of the brave.”