The nation gave him gold.  His home state gave him granite.

Monday, Medal of Honor recipient Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger was memorialized in Harrisburg.

A granite plaque bearing Etchberger's name was added to Soldiers' and Sailors' Grove across from the capitol building. 

In September, the Hamburg-native received the Medal of Honor.

"Our nation endures because there are patriots, like Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger," President Barack Obama said during last year's ceremony at the White House.

Monday, Etchberger's son, Cory, stood before a crowd in Harrisburg to give thanks for another honor.

"Thank you so much for honoring and remembering my father here today in Harrisburg," Cory said.

Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger's top secret mission during the Vietnam War kept his heroism shrouded in government classification for decades.  Etchberger saved three men during an enemy strike in 1968 before he was fatally wounded.

"It's amazing when you read what he actually did," said Maj. Gen. Wesley Craig, Pa. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Etchberger's mission was so secret and so dangerous, the Air Force offered his family special protection.

"The Air Force offered to move the men's families anywhere in the world they wanted," Cory explained.  "My father chose to relocate us back to his hometown in Hamburg, Pennsylvania."

Cory Etchberger explained his father trusted his hometown to take care of the loved ones he left behind.

"He was born and raised in Pennsylvania and he knew what a special place it is," Cory said.  "For the state that he loved so well to finally recognize his service to the country, his Medal of Honor, is really what's special for us.

Etchberger's marker at Soldiers' and Sailors' Grove joins 378 others, all Pennsylvania Medal of Honor recipients, dating back to the Civil War.

"We pause just for a moment today to remember all of them and to pray that those who see this memorial will pause and be inspired," said Pa. Sen. David Argall, R-Berks and Schuylkill counties.

The past year's been filled with honors and accolades for Richard Etchberger's family.

"We're just happy his story's being retoldand the story of all those men, all those 19 men that served up on that mountain that day," said Cory.