 During a ninety-day furlough to Phoenix, he was notified that he was to receive the Medal of Honor and traveled to Washington with an uncle who was given time off from his job to help him make the trip.In time, Silvestre Herrera would be fitted with new prosthetic feet, but on August 23, 1945, at the White House, President Harry Truman bent over his wheelchair to present him with the Medal of Honor.A year after Herrera received his White House presentation of the Medal of Honor from President Truman, the Government of Mexico presented him with its Order of Military Merit (First Class).