The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest military decoration for valor. There are currently more than 3,400 recipients of this medal, stretching back to 1863 when it was first awarded. This Black History Month, let’s take a closer look at a few of the African-American recipients.
Robert Blake. Blake was the first African-American to receive the Medal of Honor, in 1864, for actions while serving with the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. William Harvey Carney is sometimes credited as the first African-American recipient since he performed his Medal of Honor action first. However, since Carney wasn’t awarded the medal until 1900, Blake was the first to physically receive it. Blake, an escaped slave, was awarded the medal for “[carrying] out his duties bravely” during an “engagement with the enemy on John’s Island.”
Robert Sweeney. Sweeney is the only African-American (out of 19 total servicemen) to receive the Medal of Honor twice, both for saving drowning shipmates during peacetime, in 1881 and 1883.
Vernon J. Baker. Baker received the Medal of Honor for his “fighting spirit and daring leadership” during a World War II battle in 1945 in Italy. Baker wasn’t awarded the medal until 1997, as part of a review that upgraded the Distinguished Service Crosses of seven African-American WWII veterans to Medals of Honor. Baker was the only one of the seven still alive to receive the honor in person.
Lawrence Joel. Joel was the first medic to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War, for actions that occurred in 1965. During a 24-hour battle against the Viet Cong, Joel repeatedly risked his life saving wounded men, despite being shot twice himself.
James Anderson, Jr. Anderson was the first African-American U.S. Marine to receive the Medal of Honor. He was awarded the medal posthumously after being killed in action during the Vietnam War when he rolled on top of a grenade to save his fellow Marines.
These are just 5 of the 90 or so African-American Medal of Honor recipients. All Medal of Honor citations up through 2013 can be found in Fold’s collection “Medal of Honor Recipients, 1863-2013.” You can also search the Honor Wall for pages about the recipients.
Will you tell us about the Mexican, Native Americans, or other non white recipients?
What does it matter the color of their skin or nationality??? It was their acts in battle that matters. Quit using race or nationality as a mean for special recognition. These men conducted these acts of bravery as military men , not as black, Hispanic, Native American or white. Just stop the race baiting.
You miss the point. I would stand with my brothers in uniform any day. To us color mattered very little. But also note that our government had to hold special commissions to review the service of Blacks, American Natives and other minorities and found that they were in fact deserving of the Medal of Honor, but were overlooked because of their minority status. We accept the fact that there is a streak of racism in America. We also accept the fact that there are many more honorable Caucasians in our society. During Black History Month we would like to recognize the achievements of Blacks. Does this take anything away from any other group? I think not! Think deeply, to determine why you are disturbed by these facts.
Yes the military celebrates Native Americans, Hispanics and others. They even publish literature on the subject. It is too bad more of our civilian counterparts are not so forward leaning. I served with military members of all persuasions and would have given my all to protect them. Unfortunately, some of them were killed. One,a sharp Chief Master Sergeant who was killed on a mountain top in Laos overlooking North Viet Nam. He was white and did not receive the Medal of Honor until a few years ago, because the government said we had no ground troops in Laos. Dennis, I hope you will keep yourself informed and I wish you the best.
I met some of the code-talkers mothers when I went on the motorcycle ride all the way across country from California to Washington, D.C. They were interesting, very proud of their sons, and they were excited that I was the only woman making the trip with the group of motorcyclists. I’d do it again if I wasn’t so damned old – 81 now! I met some of the veterans on the trip who had served in Vietnam. I had 3 nephews who served there. Two came home and 1 died at age 47 several years ago when he was wounded 3 time. I have his enlarged photo in my office in is Marine uniform.
i AGREE WITH DENNIS, THE MEXICAN, ESPECIALLY NATIVE AMERICANS ( WIND TALKERS) SHOULD BE LISTED AND OTHER NON WHITE RECIPIENTS. THE NATIVE AMERICAN WIND TALKERS WERE INVALUABLE IN BREAKING CODES AND SENDING VALUABLE MESSAGES.
I”M JUDY
I think you mean Code Talkers (not Wind Talkers).
If you are going to be racist and honor African Americans separately, and do as Judith and dennis suggest, how about honoring causasians (even English-Americans, French-Americans Italian-Americans, etc and blonds, redheads). This is nonsense. We are all All Americans and differences should not be emphasised.
I agree with you. Let’s all be Americans. Continuing to describe people by race perpetuates the race issues that should have been abandoned long ago. Everyone should respect one another.
I agree, this is racism!
Every person who have put his or her life at risk to protect our freedom is deserving of recognition and our deepest respect. But let’s not forget that Black History Month, and other days and months that have been set aside to honor people of color in this country, were created because the writers of American History consciously and systematically ignored the contributions of these brave citizens simply because they we not white. The fact that this information is not commonly known is proof that this problem still persist. I long for the day when the information that we read about during Black History month is considered redundant because it has already been included in the history that we are all taught. Until that day is here, let us not complain because a hero’s name has been added to the list of people to whom we owe our freedom.
Really. This post is racist in itself. This is not about be against others. It about acknowledging those missing from mainstream history.
1st Sgt Decatur Dorsey was born a slave in 1836 in south-eastern Frederick County, MD. He enlisted in Company B of the 39th Regiment Infantry, USCT on March 22, 1964. On July 30, 1864 , his regiment was engaged in the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, VA. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on November 8, 1865. After the war he married and moved to Hoboken, NJ where he died on July 11, 1891. He is buried at Flower Hill Cemetery in North Bergen, NJ.
On March 24, 2012, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Antietam Camp #3, Frederick, MD commemorated the 148th Anniversary of the gallant action of July 30, 1864 of Sgt. Dorsey that led to his receiving the Medal of Honor.
Rev. Dr. Joseph R. Foster, Antietam Camp #3, SUVCW
More information on Sgt. Dorsey is available from me at the following e-mail.
I am helping with the Black History this month and would love some more information. I am a retired Marine.
Did you know that February is American History Month??? It doesn’t matter what color or heritage you come from. We are all Americans and those who served our country and have received the Medal of Honor should all be honored during this month! All 3,400 names should be listed in their honor.
I enjoy learning about all of our great men and women who sacrificed for this country, no matter what ethnic background they came from! My 5th grade teacher was the best teacher I ever had, and I’ll never forget her. She was a black women, I am a Caucasian with some American Indian heritage. She never treated her students differently. She taught us history, which included history of the blacks who escaped from slavery and who fought for freedom for slaves and rights for women of all colors. She taught us about Hispanics and Asians. She told us about her experiences while teaching students in Japan to speak English. We have become to focused on our ethnic differences in this country, instead of the good things that make us who we are as citizens of this country. We are Americans! We all have struggles, but the majority of us love to help others, we donate time and money to charities, to homeless issues, to children, to the elderly. But none of this is publicized! All we hear is the negative in society. Schools need to teach the history of all the citizens of this country that have contributed to making us – US! We are a melting pot of ethnic peoples. I have many ethnic cultures in my ancestry, my cousins have a variety of others – including African, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander. That IS being an American – becoming ONE from MANY! We should be proud of all of our history that made us the country we are today!
I agree with Susan.
All Americans, regardless of national origin based on genealogical research, should be honored for any and all awards they have been awarded.
My father was on the West Virginia on 7 Dec 1941. He survived, was reassigned to the Tennessee. Unfortunately he died 3 Jul 1957 of cancer, possibly the result of recon he did on Bikini Island after the atomic bomb testing.
Thank you for this valuable information on Black history… I appreciate you!
I really enjoyed reading this article and found it quite informative.
If you are a U.S. Marine you are an American, not an African-American, French-American, Scotch-American, etc. This should be noted in future articles. The other service branches are welcome to continue to divide by race, however….
is that why the marines were the last service unit to accept African-Americans and send them to a segregated training camp because they were color blind?
My husband was in the Marines . He said instead of color they were ALL Marines just different shades of green but ALL green 🙂
Thought that was a good way his drill sergeant explained it 🙂
Well, it is Black History Month, so there’s a good reason for not covering non-black MOH recipients. At least for now.
Thank you for this small piece of American history and the specific topic relating to African American heroes. It completely baffles me that some folks commenting here chose to distort and turn this lovely information into a narrow minded racial issue. What continues to not register with this mindset is that American history has “always” fairly exclusively been written only about white /Anglo Americans. And sadly it seems that this mindset can’t fathom that indeed they are not the only ones who are part of American history. (Please read that statement again.) I myself absolutely enjoy learning about every single culture and peoples that have made their mark, as they are every bit as interesting, important, valuable and deserving as the white/Anglo humans that have by far and for an extremely long time been the only ones to be recognized and acknowledged in the history books, not to mention, daily. I would next like to learn about Asian American military heroes, and absolutely about Mexican American military heroes, and absolutely about Native American military heroes, and absolutely about women (of all races) military heroes. And thank you once again for sharing this small piece in honor of Black “American” history month. Indeed we humans, in all our racial beauty and diversity, are Americans…. so get over yourselves and enjoy.
I am with ya! I’m white and my Dad was in WWII, but I am not about to take it so personally when I read interesting heroic stories that I didn’t know yesterday!
Dee, I agree with you 100%. The people that are saying that Fold 3 is being racist, are racists themselves. I am not a MOH recipient but I did serve this country in the U.S. Army for 22 years. I retired in 2002 with the rank of Master Sergeant. I served with and under several black men and women during my years of service. I would bet 1 months pension check on the fact that the people that are saying those things have never served in the military.
Very well said, Dee. Thank you for writing it so eloquently!
And what now – retribution?
The more we distinguish/segregate people by race, the longer the racism lasts. The stories of these people are moving as are the stories of other vets of other races in all other wars and my guess is they all have one thing in common. They wish their friends who didn’t make it could receive their medal instead.
Personally, I’m a left-handed American and have never received any credit, empathy or sympathy for having lived in a world dominated by right-handed people of all races. We are a minority that have had to adapt ourselves in every facet of our lives from table settings to how to hold your paper on the desk when learning to write. We adapted just fine without a Left-Handed American History Month or any other recognition.
How about we honor people who distinguish themselves regardless of race or color and if there’s an image of them, it will be pretty obvious what color they are. Of course you won’t know if they were left-handed or not but who cares.
Thank you Dee very well put. It discouraftge me to see the anger and lack of love for those who served and we’re not recognized for their bravery. Bless you!
I completely agree with Dee and Michael Lawson. I found the post quite interesting, appreciated this piece of historical information shared during Black history month…and was sorry to see something positive and educational received as something negative. I agree…we want all voices, races, colors to be heard and celebrated, but do note the context of this month and let’s celebrate this gesture of honor and recognition for THIS group of Americans so long left out or relegated to confined space in our nations documented history!
It’s Black History Month, that is why Black Americans are being honored. When it is hispanic or American Indian history month they should be recognized. We all lnow Ira Hayes.
When is White history month? I can’t seem to remember what month has been designated for it.
Racism is segregated military units through WW II. Racism is lesser medals for equally meritorious actions. Yes, we are all Americans, but this white American is all too aware of the racism our country promoted for far too long. Our country started out racist with a constitution that not only allowed slavery, but counted slaves as as a fraction of a man. (We will save sexism in the military for another time!) I am old enough to have gone to school when this was touted as a “brilliant compromise” with only a hint that something was very wrong when my NYS teachers assured us it was the Southern States that wanted this (but all states – including NYS – benefited by this accounting!) Until we realize Martin Luther King’s Dream that all people are measured not by the color of their skin but the strength of their character, we need special times when those who are discounted get special honor because of past injustices. Let honesty and compassion overrule any perceived special treatment. We, who may never have intentionally acted from racism, still bear the burden of the past where racism was a way of life. We need to acknowledge the debt we can never repay to these brave men who loved their country to the point that they considered the offense of racism a lesser thing than the promise of the nation they fought for so bravely.
Do not you be afraid of history. Peoples came onto our shores and when they arrived they were french, spaniards, english, irish, scottish and so on. They all became white after they lived long enough on lands they felt they should have . Have you ever wondered why they were desgnated as white? Learn.
I guess the real question is, ” Why do we even have a Black History Month when we do not have separate months of recognition for all the other non-whites in our midstream?” Color should NEVER enter the question of whom we honor. And yes, I know that mostly the whites were the only ones mentioned in the past, but why do we continue to divide after we have found the error of our ways?
This is the first and LAST time I’ve bothered to read these messages. I think FOLD3 is a terrific source of information…but when everyone focuses on the rampant political correctness that pervades today’s society and ignores the importance of the historical value of the information available here it makes one wonder why anyone would waste time with these letters. This is my first and FINAL reply here. What a colossal waste of time this has been!
Elvis of Maine
None of the code talkers received the Medal of Honor. Wow! some responses are really petty. If you are a serious student of the Medal, distinctions are important. Of course, they are not to people with agendas.
The Military Officer magazine, October 2015, had an article about Hispanic service members who received it. “During the Vietnam War, an estimated 80,000 Hispanic Americans served in the U. S. Military in all capacities, and, to date, 23 have received the Medal of Honor for heroism on the battlefield.” The stories of 4 of these men are presented as well as a list of the others who served during the Vietnam War.
If evolution is correct – and more and more it seems it is – then humanity started from the Great Rift Valley in the middle of Africa, and…we were all black!
Think about it!
Greg, I absolutely agree with!
I know she was a civilian BUT she was the wife of a President which is the ONLY civilian that we whom serve or served this great nation SALUTE deserves recognition this month also. For Mrs. Dolley Madison saved numerous national valuables including the portrait of George Washington and was one of the last people to leave the White House before it was burned down by the British. Her acts of this valour was deserving of The Presidential Medal of Freedom or even the Congressional Gold Medal yet nothing is ever mentioned of her reception of either one.
According to “The Black History of the White House”, the statement of one of the slaves was that the portrait was saved by a cook I believe. but you should read the book to clear up some of your misperceptions.
I am old and I was born and while I lived in various other states and now again live in Kansas. In the first grade I missed the last three months of school. The only person who checked on my health was a African-American. (n.b I have dna to show I am mostly English-German). I did not know until recently that Kansas had a large black contingent in the 1860-65 War. Recently the DAR nation-wide had local meetings honoring Metal of Honor veterans. I know that during the Vietnam War the Military had more blacks than earlier wars. Did the percentage of Metal of Honor awards equal the percentage of blacks in the service? Incidently, those individuals have many disabilities from chemicals used in that war, and I think blacks have the higher percentage than other veterans.
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I find it very interesting that these people all fought over so many decades and so many wars in so many countries, Vietnam, Italy, for ALL the people of the United States… The Civil War must have been particularly difficult, as we were fighting ourselves. I wish we could all be so brave as these men have been over the globe and over time. And it is because of them, no matter when they were awarded and for what war, that we are free to speak our minds to each other. A big thanks to them, and thanks to you for keeping us posted.
There are so many heroes in our history and they are of all races. We all know that history seems to be written by the victor and lost to the loser. Custer’s last stand is a great example when you read the Indians side of the battle.
It is time to put away the hero’s skin color and honor them for what they did.
So many immigrants were conscripted into war and the “Fighting Irish” come to mind. The Japanese Americans who fought in WW2 in Germany are one of the highest decorated soldiers. So tell me please when have you heard any of their heroic actions?
I want to know more about the battles and what they did. Their contribution to our freedom demands their history be remembered too.
Morgan Freeman was interviewed by Mike Wallace. Mike asked Morgan about Black History Month and Morgan replied: “Do you want a Jewish History Month?”
Mike replied “no” and so did Morgan about Black History Month. “I just wish to be remembered as a man,” Morgan replied.
It is past time to think of us as colors. All of us are American and have a wonderful heritage to share with each other.
Embrace it, learn from it, share it, and remember it for our future generations.
Thank you. I am an American, and while I am proud to be, I am even more GRATEFUL to be an American. I am grateful for those who came to America in the early times, and to the pioneers who went into all the different places that eventually became the United States of America. And I am old-fashioned enough to feel my heart swell when our grand old flag is presented. I regret that racism continues. We are all Americans, and we all come from generations of changing and melding race, color, creed. Let us just get off the soapbox and enjoy every day of the freedoms our forefathers fought for – for many, many generations.
Let us also not forget the mistakes–the institution of slavery too
Whatever allows us all to come together in our respect for each other is awesome. Part of self-exploration in America involves asking: is the personal and public history of people who look like me and come from all the places my ancestors come from and worship as my family does represented or recorded for people to explore?
There is the crime of burying history. That is what we can take some action on. Talking about this website story as some type of imbalance is accurate. Is it unjust to cover the stories of people of partially or of wholly African descent?
If you are of European descent and follow the leads with a few names, much of your family history will pop up in an ancestry website in about 3 days of work.
“Black” and “White” America is a particular category of discussion. We in those categories and in-between and around them have some profound shared history.
It is touching to feel the sincere human sacrifices of people who may have had things taken from them including an ancestor’s right to compensation, wealth-building, freedom, education and representation. Many other Americans lack these things as well.
Did these heroes discriminate in their actions? They chose to save human lives while fighting for the country any American can call his or her country. These sacrifices are beautiful because they embody unity in addition to heroism.
Black History is part of every American’s history. I am sure Morgan Freeman would like to be remembered as a man. He will be remembered as an actor.
Compartmentalizing history is a choice which may have worked in a pre-integration moment. We are still in that moment when TV and movies are less integrated and congress is less integrated. Ironically, the military is very integrated except it is somewhat lacking in rich white liberal females and males who can afford an education, but that is another topic!
Did Morgan Freeman say that??!
Yes Morgan Freeman said that. And I couldn’t agree with him more. My neighbor is my neighbor, my friend is my friend, my co-worker is my co-worker. Doesn’t require a color the same as “American” doesn’t require a region of origin perfix.
Why do white people always seem to look for that Black Leader to tell them what Black people think? I don’t remember an election with Morgan Freeman elected universal Black spokesperson. I could quote numerous people that would take the opposing opinion. They all would be just as valid because there is no universal Black spokes person.
Now my opinion and I only speak for myself is that there has always been a need for Black American history because the school books are inadequate on the subject of African contributions to the building of this country.
The medal of honor winners were no operating in this fantasy world of equality . They had to deal in the Civil War with officers that would turn coat if the battle changed. Plus the North was not the land of freedom and equality plus they had to deal with horrendous discrimination.
The 9th and 10 Calvary were not written out of the winning of the west the were white washed in the movies.The colored troops , yes that is the official designation of the Black soldiers from the civil war up until WWI, had to fight their country men before disembarking to Cuba and the Philippines in the Spanish American war. they were transferred to the French army in WWI because the US amry refused to use them except as stevedores Lets not forget the so called “greatest generation” that not only went to war in a segregated military but brought the same segregation to England and France.
So to give these men a simple mention brings out the bigots and those who were raised on the sanitized version of American history..
Very sad that there are so many who scream ” What about us Whites?!” Look at you history books, your congress, business executives,
your 1%. Turning away from history doesn’t make you smart or constructive. This telling of Black heroism honors the people who have suffered and still given their all to this country. Native Americans and Latinos and people from all ethnic groups have fought to maintain freedom for all of us. All stories need to be told but it’s not them who demand the spotlight. It’s angry and threatened whites who feel the world changing and want to stop the evolution to an American sociaty that has tremendous diversity with power being shared. I am a Vietnam Veteran. I believe in a world where diversity can lead to a new and higher unity. I am White, I am concerned that there so much fear for not getting our share.
Time to open up and see the world as our neighborhood which doesn’t want to be the USA and has unique and amazing things to share with us. Breath deep. Enjoy where we are going and stop thinking we can hold on to our life of privilege and excess.
Black Medal of Honor winners should be praised. Don’t let political doctrine cause you to be someone even you would not respect.
These stories serve as an inspiration to young people of color who see so many negative images of our race. We know about Jed Cooper played by Clint Eastwood in” Hang ‘Em High” but don’t know about the real Bass Reeves who was probably the greatest US Marshall who ever lived. Young people; it may be too much to ask in this day of instant responses, but think and do your research before you begin swapping ignorance. Yes I am a black Veteran who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war; and my ancestors have served in practical all the wars of this country and my sons have followed our lead. Giving respect and honor to a few, takes nothing from the many. Go in peace.
Ronald,
Well said as have been many of the other positive-based responses. I’ve never been on a blog before and I was really surprised/disappointed at all of the agendas I was reading. The bottom line to me is that honor and valor are unique characteristics of the few, not the many. We properly honor the few and it should make no difference the composition of those few. When valor was called for, they stepped forward and I would bet that not one of them did so with the idea they were going to be decorated for doing so; it was just the right thing to do at a particular time and place, and they were the one who did it. Perhaps a blog is a place that somehow encourages bigotry and pettiness, but I guess that is what makes our society what it is, made up of all sorts of people who have all sorts of beliefs.
Well Said Jim Kenney & Ronald Simms.
The first day of basic training was so screwed up for us. Everything that could go wrong did. Plane was late, had to be bused to the fort, 1am getting the blankets & sheets, 2:30 getting to bed, etc.
We were forgotten for breakfast, and by lunch time everyone was hungry & pissed. Fights started between everyone … until the Drill Sergeant came into the Barracks and called “Attention!” He was 6′ 6″ or taller, looked like a football linebacker, and proceeded to breakup the fight in the back of the barracks between 6+ people.
He yelled, “Fall out” and everyone tried to run through that door at the same time. I should preface this with it was January 1973, Fort Ord, California, and it was COLD. We only had a beat up green fatigue jacket.
The Drill Sergeant (DI) made us go back in, everyone get their jacket, and fall out about 10 times before we seemed to get it right. About that time someone made a wise crack and we found ourselves in the pushup position (Front leaning rest) and was trying to push Fort Ord into the ocean.
After about 45 minutes of wearing us out and no more wise cracks from the peanut gallery we were indoctrinated into the ARMY.
The DI told us to look to the left, the right, behind us and then he started asking individuals, what color did they see? Some said Black, some said White, others said Yellow, and Red.
The DI looked at us and said: “From this moment on until you leave the Army you are all GREEN. There will be NO more BS about Black this, Hispanic that, Whitey, or ANY name calling in my platoon.
Some of the troops started griping about that and 30 minutes later of going inside the building and push ups … we all yelled, “GREEN DRILL SERGEANT” the next time he asked us what color we were.
ALL of the service members have a history and saw the service in a different perspective, from a different background, but one thing is so true: I wouldn’t give 2 hoots to their color if I was wounded and saved by any soldier willing to risk their life for mine … they were GREEN and a HERO.
“Black History Month.” So, in the other eleven months, are the blacks forgotten, or is the history forgotten?
Sure, “Black History Month” is not the most extreme tokenism in modern history. But it is a significant addition.
A mere 3400-odd recipients, ninety-odd of them black Americans. One of the smaller files in Fold3. The significance of MOH is not about numbers but scarcity.
MOH awarded for bravery. It is worse than careless to tangle the subject with race, it is negligent and it is racist. “…so get over yourselves and enjoy.”? Nope. Racism must be labelled wherever it appears.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/02/25/how-blackish-tackled-police-brutality-while-staying-true-to-its-roots/
Somebody remembers the things Obama first stood for.
I Loved Russ’es Left Handed analogy! Thank you Russ.
Russ’s comment is a false equivalent, and makes no sense. Left handed people do not have the same arduous history of Blake people, unless of course they were Black. I am beginning to understand why we have to bring in so many foreign immigrants. We do not properly educate many of our citizens in rational thinking, history citizenship and so much more!
I agree with Dee:
Thank you for this small piece of American history and the specific topic relating to African American heroes. It completely baffles me that some folks commenting here chose to distort and turn this lovely information into a narrow minded racial issue. What continues to not register with this mindset is that American history has “always” fairly exclusively been written only about white /Anglo Americans. And sadly it seems that this mindset can’t fathom that indeed they are not the only ones who are part of American history. (Please read that statement again.) I myself absolutely enjoy learning about every single culture and peoples that have made their mark, as they are every bit as interesting, important, valuable and deserving as the white/Anglo humans that have by far and for an extremely long time been the only ones to be recognized and acknowledged in the history books, not to mention, daily. I would next like to learn about Asian American military heroes, and absolutely about Mexican American military heroes, and absolutely about Native American military heroes, and absolutely about women (of all races) military heroes. And thank you once again for sharing this small piece in honor of Black “American” history month. Indeed we humans, in all our racial beauty and diversity, are Americans…. so get over yourselves and enjoy.
Dee,
Beautifully written and well thought out!
Recommend watching the Medal of Honor presentation this coming Monday morning to a SEAL. Gives you an appreciation for the character of someone who has gone in harms way.
Could you put a list of all recipents of this Medal on this site?
Jane:
I have a link to the Medal of Honor Recipients which I hope is correct. The other list that is more difficult to obtain is the Southern Cross of Honor which was the Civil War’s equivalent of the Medal of Honor.
Most of the names are listed by state and as such I don’t have a single list to provide as a reference.
Jim
http://www.history.army.mil/moh/index.html
Well whether African American, Native American, Hispanic American or my great uncle the redneck (now the politically correct term ‘Appalachian American’) all these recipients were Americans that were patriotic and honorable and despite the different backgrounds they put America first. Sometimes you have to look at something BIGGER than yourself to truly realize how petty people can be about the littlest of things. I will just point out two points.
1) The only time the MOH was awarded to a woman was during the Civil War. So yes a woman has been awarded the MoH also.
& 2) Speaking of ‘Appalachian Americans’ the only ‘Appalachian American’ to be awarded the MoH was in the case of a small undersized man who went to Hollywood and became a an actor-his name was Audie Murphy- and not only was he awarded the MoH-we was awarded the MoH-TWICE!!!!
Yes, some one felt we needed to know more and the truth about our people. We, Black Americans have been behind every nationality, we should be recognized , we helped build this country in more ways than one. We were never recorded in the history books,until now. We are great people. In this month we, our children learn much about our people than ever before and they are interested.
When i joined the service of the Navy and took the oath to serve and fight for our country, there where no man diferent then one another, not religon are color. We are all americans. the only color i see is Red White and Blue, so lets stop all the stupid racism and stop pointing fingers how we got here and stand together as one nation under God. if you dont want to do that are dont love USA then leave cause im not leaving this country that i love and all who live here as all of us is an American.
Information like this should be reported regularly,a special month is not necessary!
Thanks very much for some great historic facts. Facts that many in this country don’t know about, or even care to know about. They want to continue living in a world where the contributions of people of color are either downplayed or completely omitted from written “accepted” “perpetuated” US history. And then either wonder why there is still a racial problem in this country, or blame the one’s who have been discreminated against for hundreds of years for being the problem. I am a proud Black American who honorably served this country as an enlisted man and an officer in the US Air Force for more than 21 years. I served tours of duty in Panama, Korea (3 times), a wilderness outpost in Alaska, and in the Persian Gulf, just to name a few, and am a 100% disabled veteran. I am also the proud son of a WWII veteran of the Pacific theater who served over 33 years in the Army and Retired as an E-8 Senior NCO. My only sibling is a retired Army Chief Warrant Officer with more than 22 years of military service, and I have a nephew who is currently a Captain in the US Army. I’ve never discussed racism in the military with my brother or my nephew, but I can tell you that my father told me how Black soldiers serving during WWII were treated much worse in America than German POWs who had fought against US troops. He also told me of instances throughout his military career where he personally experienced or witnessed racial discremination. As an enlisted, and later officer, I witnessed and fought against racial discremination in the military. The heroic exploits of white service members who put it all on the line for this country are special, and deserve recognition, and throughout the history of this country, which has always shown them favor, they have received that recognition on a country wide, and in some cases worldwide, basis. For a person of color to put it all on the line, for a country that hasn’t always shown them favor or the full rights of citizenship, they deserve country wide recognition and respect, and the correction of erroneous record and history books that do not portray “The Truth”! So instead of accusing Fold3 of being racist for honoring the truth about the heroic contributions of people of color to the perpetuation of the freedoms we all enjoy in this country, why don’t YOU do the right thing and complain about the omissions of these contributions in the lessons our children continue to be taught in our schools? Sometimes the truth hurts, but it will always set you free.
Mr. Fleetwood,It matters because the was an air of entitlement and superiority in this stolen country and it was an enforced by law…free labor,broken promises legalized slavery after it was abolished supposedly,etc. These men stopped bullets,risk their lives and still weren’t treated equally and still dealt with legislated racism. When you accuse people of race baiting,you should brush u on world history…..
The computer is leaving out certain letters but I think you get the jist…..
As a non American I would like to say that it is all good and well to believe that all men in uniform are or were the same! This may be the case now but it most certainly was not during WWll, my father, grandfather and several of my uncles served in this war and did so side by side with U.S. troops, who they liked very much except for one thing…….the way a great many treated black soldiers, this to my Scottish people was something unheard of and most certainly uncalled for because as my grandfather said; it really made me stop and think…..exactly whose freedom are we fighting for!!!
I am a white person, who may well be able to write this because my great grandfather’s unit, the 16th NY Heavy Artillery served on the right flank of the union forces attacking New Market Heights. Black regiments formed the center of the attacking force and it is my understanding that on 9/29 1864 they bore the brunt of Confederate fire and won several medals of honor in so doing. My maternal GG suffered a shoulder wound and spent some time in the hospital. But his life was not ever in question. The black troops shared the bulk of the death among the Northern forces that day. I am probably here and am able to retell the story because of their sacrifice..