We agree with Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif. Something is wrong with this picture: American military forces have been at war in Afghanistan since 2001 and Iraq since 2003. More than four thousand have been killed and far more maimed — but only six have received the Medal of Honor for battlefield valor.

By contrast, eight Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers who policed Haiti in the early 20th century, and 133 to those who served in the Korean War, which lasted from 1950-1953.

Hunter, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran in his first term in Congress, wonders if the standard for Medals of Honor has been raised. Pentagon officials say no and suggest another factor is at play: the different nature of the current wars, with their emphasis on precision weapons and the guerrilla-style tactics of America's enemies, means fewer opportunities for displays of battlefield valor.

Hunter challenges this explanation, noting that the basis of warfare remains taking and holding ground from hostile forces. Still, the Pentagon view has some logic.

However, we wonder if there is another factor at work here: the extraordinary skill of U.S. military medical teams. The U.S. Army's Center of Military History shows a clear trend over the past century of generally awarding Medals of Honor to soldiers killed during their valorous acts. All the Iraq and Afghan honorees are dead.

But a present-day soldier who suffers a gunshot wound or some other major invasive injury is far more likely to be quickly stabilized and to survive than a similarly wounded soldier 50 years ago.

These medical advances, which were pioneered by U.S. military doctors in Vietnam, are more responsible for the declining U.S. murder rate than any other factor. Now they could be indirectly limiting the number of U.S. soldiers honored for their gallantry.

This is why we welcome a bill introduced by Hunter asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates to review recent trends in awarding the Medal of Honor. It has passed the House and is now before the Senate.

Something is amiss when the awarding of the nation's most prestigious military decoration becomes so rare that it suggests today's soldiers are less valorous than those of the past. Hunter deserves praise for drawing attention to this issue.

REPRINTED FROM THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.