Immortal valor : the black Medal of Honor winners of World War II
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-278) and index.

"In 1945, the US Congress recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 American servicemen for acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty during World War II. Despite the fact that more than one million African Americans served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor. This glaring omission remained on the record for over four decades. But recent historical investigations have brought to light some of the extraordinary acts of valor performed by black soldiers during the war. Men like Lieutenant Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machine guns, an observation post, and a German dugout. And Sergeant Ruben Rivers, who spearheaded his tank unit's advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Charles Thomas led his platoon to allow capture of a strategically vital village on the Siegfried Line in 1944 despite losing half his men and suffering a number of wounds himself. It was not until 1993 that a US Army-commissioned study determined that seven men, including Baker, Rivers, and Thomas, had been denied the Army's highest award due to racial discrimination. In 1997, more than 50 years after the war, President Clinton finally awarded the Medal of Honor to these seven heroes - sadly, all but one of them posthumously. These are their stories." --book jacket.