A soldier should never be honored for something that was expected
Ok,WAY before bungie even started on Halo:Reach,they released Halo:CE.
Now,they dont mention anything at all of it in the game,so you have to do this,but if you read the game manual on "The Story So far",it tells a couple things about Reach"
A keystone of humanity's colonization efforts is the planet Reach, an intersteller naval yard that builds colony ships for civilians and warships for the UNSC's armed forces. Conveniently close to Earth, Reach is also a hub of scientific and military activity.
Thirty-two years ago, contact with the outer colony Harvest was lost. A battlegroup sent to investigate was almost completely destroyed; only one badly damaged ship returned to Reach. It's crew told of a seeminly unstoppable alien warship that had effortlessly annihilated their forces.
then there 2 more paragraphs then it says...
On Reach, a secret military project to create cyborg super-soldiers takes on newfound importance.
then a couple things...then finally:this
Existing SPARTAN-ll soldiers are recalled to Reach for further augmentation.The plan:board a Covenant vessel with the improved SPARTAN-lls and learn the location of the Covenant home world.Two days before the mission begins, Covenant forces strike Reach and annihilate the colony.
In the halo 2 manual it just says stuff what happened after reach fell.
Anyway if you read the Halo CE manual it tells things about Reach.So mayb you know more about Halo:Reach now.