Belated Medal of Honor for 24 Soldiers Overlooked Due to Race

ABC News ^ | Friday, February 21, 2014 | Luis Martinez

[kristinn]

Twenty-four Army soldiers who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam will receive the Medal of Honor next month, correcting oversights that prevented many of them from receiving the nation’s highest award for valor because of their Hispanic, Jewish and African-American backgrounds, White House officials said today.

The awarding of 24 Medals of Honor — most of them posthumously — will be the largest number to be awarded at one time since World War II.

The process began in 2002 when Congress mandated that the military services review the cases of hundreds of Hispanic and Jewish service members who fought during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War and received the Distinguished Service Cross instead of the Medal of Honor for their heroism. The Distinguished Service Cross is the nation’s second-highest award for valor.

The 12-year review of cases ultimately identified 18 Army soldiers whose cases merited being upgraded to the Medal of Honor, officials said.

During the course of the review it was determined that six soldiers not of Hispanic or Jewish backgrounds should also have their Distinguished Service Crosses upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

The Medals of Honor will be awarded on March 18 in a White House ceremony that will be attended by the three living recipients — all Vietnam veterans — as well as the families of the 21 others who are receiving the award posthumously. Of the 24 recipients, seven served in World War II, eight in the Korean War and nine in the Vietnam War.

The majority of the new Medal of Honor recipients are of Hispanic descent, but the extensive review of cases began with an effort review the case of PFC Leonard Kravitz, a Jewish-American soldier who died in the Korean War.

[rktman]

Charlie Rangel?

[centurion316]

The Medal of Honor is highly valued because the standards for an award are very high. Many have said that the services, especially the Army, have set the standards too high for the current wars and have injected Pentagon bureaucrats, politicians, and lawyers who have never heard a shot fired in anger into the process.

I think that the awards system is seriously out of whack and this is yet more evidence. By design, more Distinguished Service Crosses are awarded than Medals of Honor. You have to draw a line somewhere and the distinction is a very fine one. The Distinguished Service Cross requires a very high degree of valor, it is not some consolation prize.

We have done this twice before, for Blacks and for Japanese Americans. Now we are doing it again. The claim that these soldiers were slighted because of their race strikes me as questionable. Perhaps in some cases in World War II, many a few cases in Korea, I doubt that had much of an effect in Vietnam. A much more important factor is the unit. Some units made more awards and recommendations than did others. Some divisions were known as stingy, others passed them out more freely.

Some political weenie reading documents 40-70 years after the facts is not going to come up with a better result, unless the goal is to make political points. This debases the Medal of Honor.

[Carry me back]

More ignorance. They have to keep the hate going. Keep them on the plantation

[Thank You Rush]

“”During the course of the review it was determined that six soldiers not of Hispanic or Jewish backgrounds should also have their Distinguished Service Crosses upgraded to the Medal of Honor. “”

And they decided not to state exactly what was the background of those not Hispanic or Jewish? What do they take us for? Don’t bother answering that. We know what and how they think..

[Hot Tabasco]

Any time you bring race into the equation, I immediately think of Affirmative Action. And in the case of these soldiers, I wonder if they were indeed worthy of the MOH......

[Mercat]

Wow. Sounds like he’s a saint too. Reminds me of Father Kapaun.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Lots to comment on here. Yes there was discrimination against Blacks, Jews and Hispanics in WW2, often by Patton and if correct, Mad Dog Smith (Marines) in the Pacific. Patton was admonished by Eisenhower for it after seeing how Jewish Displaced Persons were so badly treated in their housing and feeding in captured German towns (where German POWs lived in better houses than the DP’s).

Okay, shit happens, and when it can be corrected, not only “SHOULD” it be, it “MUST”. That is why soldiers and sailors and other servicement and women have “buddies”. That’s what buddies are for, to protect and help each other regardless of race, religion or ethnic origins.

The Lubin and Kravitz stories have been around for a long time. Glad to see that others are going to get their long due recognition.

Remember, the legislation for the metals review was passed and signed into law under the George Bush administration (2002). A “thanks” to all involved in this effort.

But also remember, Obama only uses MOH awards ceremonies as PhotoOps for his “Selfie” collection. He couldn’t give a flying shit about the soldiers themselves, or he would never have allowed the damned Rules of Engagement he literally signed off on, to be implimented in Iraq and esp. Afghanistan.

He would not have gone to sleep or play golf when the shit hit the fan in Benghazi.

He would not have allowed the ROE to prevent artillery and air support for the Manat Valley, Outpost Keating, and other operational debacles in Afghanistan. The Commander in Chief should have said” Provide our forces with all the support they need to win”, not to allow them to be picked off one at a time in ambushes which could have been defeated by good artillery and air support.

I don’t recall these restrictive and deadly ROEs in Nam. There were sensible ROEs regarding civilians in combat zones, but nothing like the Obama/Dempsey/Hagel et al handcuffing and killing our of military in Afghanistan.

PS: My son was ordered NOT TO FIRE on Mujaheedin terrorists in Iraq when his unit came under their fire BECAUSE THE TERRORISTS WERE USING WOMEN AND CHILDREN AS HUMAN SHIELDS. He had to “hunker down” and take the fire, not returning any, until he had a clear shot (and when he did, the enemy died - God bless the M249).

Our political, civilian and military leadership today is a disgrace to the Services, those who serve in them, and to our country.

A firing squad would be too dignified for those who deserve it, but, in reality, a long jail sentence in Leavenworth is still an option.

[yarddog]

My Father had a friend in WWII who was a New York Jew. One day the guy was reading a letter from home and remarked about how ironic something was.

It turned out one of his friends in New York had been killed in an accident. The ironic part was his parents had used political pull to keep him out of the draft.

[BluH2o]

On June 21, 2000, President Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to 22 Asian Americans, 20 of whom were Japanese American WWII veterans.

Interesting how two 'rat presidents with absolutely no prior military experience are handing out the MOH like candy to their faithful constituent base. Both these presidents lied about how they avoided military service.

[Pollster1]

That is unacceptably sexist. Hillary needs to do a search for deserving women and award 24 MOH to women who served in the same time period.

[getarope]

1984 + 40 = 2024

[fortheDeclaration]

The Left seeks to destroy all absolute standards.

[In God I trust]

:) no problem we all do it. That’s what you get for watching ANY actor say ANYTHING! Live and learn my friend lol.

[BilLies]

In my mind, retrospective active GROUP awards carry a political “asterisk (*)” alongside. But god bless ALL the brave men.

[SkyPilot]

This debases the Medal of Honor.

It does.

The very fact that the news release from the White House and the Pentagon mentions that the review was raced based means that this entire action was driven by ugly racial politics.

No one want to diminish the service of any veteran, but let's take this in context.

Anyone know who this is?

That is Major Dick Winters, 101st Airborne, of "Band of Brother" fame.

He was portrayed in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg produced HBO series by actor Damian Lewis.

Major Winters passed away recently (Jan 2, 2011).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Winters

Maj Winters led an assault on several German artillery emplacements that were firing upon our troops on Omaha beach. He led an attack requiring almost unbelievable heroism and bravery.

http://www.majordickwinters.com/

He should have been awarded the Medal of Honor, and even his commanders at the time acknowledged that fact.

But because there were Army policies that limited MOH citations (no more than XX from the same units), he was denied.

For many years, friends and supporters of Maj Winters attempted to get his citation upgraded to the Medal of Honor. It was met by fierce resistance and absolute silence by Washington and the Dept of Defense.

Suddenly, one day, the White House and DoD announce dozens of new MOH recipients, and cite race and discrimination as the main factor in pushing them forward.

I am sorry, but this is wrong. Period.

If Major Winters was not deserving of the upgrade in his citation to the MOH, then none of these others should have been pushed through.

[cll]

This includes four Puerto Ricans: MSG Juan Negron, PVT Miguel Vera, PVT Demensio Rivera (Korea) and SSG Felix M. Conde (Vietnam).

Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.