America’s Medal of Honor recipients are featured in a national exhibition which opened in Denver, Colorado on August 15 and will be open through September 21.

Titled Portraits of Valor: The Faces of Courage & Honor, the collection of black- and-white portraits is the work of Denver photographer Nick Del Calzo, who photographed 139 medal recipients during the eight-year project. Eighty portraits are featured in the exhibit. The exhibit will also include a rare opportunity to view the three Medals of Honor representing the major branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

The five-week showing at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Denver’s number one tourist venue, is a prelude to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s annual convention September 16-20. The dates also span the Democratic Party’s National Convention.

The dramatic large-format images show the medal recipients in their worlds of today or at locations throughout the country that are symbolic of the honor. Each photo is accompanied by the recipient’s personal message, as well as a brief description of the courageous action that compelled Congress to bestow on him the nation’s highest military honor.

“Whatever their origin or however great their diversity, their differences were dissolved as each became a hero in his moment of personal destiny,” Del Calzo stated.

Earlier, the award-winning photographer had compiled the portraits into a photo essay that was published as a New York Times best-selling book, Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. In the accompanying profiles, biographer Peter Collier stated, “We are the land of the free for one reason and one reason only - because we are also the home of the brave.”

The Medal of Honor was established by an Act of Congress in 1862 as the highest military honor to be bestowed on members of the U.S. Armed Forces for acts of heroism and valor displayed during hostile action. To date, 3,468 Medals have been awarded in the name of the Congress and usually presented by the President in White House ceremonies. The oldest of the 101 recipients still living is 99. More than 60 are expected at the Denver convention, which will feature a September 19 awards gala.