McVeane received his country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor.

[1] McVeane's medal was won for capturing the flag from a Confederate Color bearer at Fredericksburg Heights.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in October 1863, and was mortally wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness.

[4] The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Corporal John P. McVeane, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 4 May 1863, while serving with Company D, 49th New York Infantry, in action at Fredericksburg Heights, Virginia.

Corporal McVeane shot a Confederate Color Bearer and seized the flag; also approached, alone, a barn between the lines and demanded and received the surrender of a number of the enemy therein.