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Title details for Immortal Valor by Robert Child - Available

Immortal Valor

The Black Medal of Honor Winners of World War II

by Robert Child
ebook
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The remarkable story of the seven African American soldiers ultimately awarded the World War II Medal of Honor, and the 50-year campaign to deny them their recognition.

In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during World War II, they recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 recipients. Despite the fact that more than one million African-Americans served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor. The 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 Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machineguns, an observation post, and a German dugout. Or Sergeant Reuben Rivers, who spearhead his tank unit's advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded. Meanwhile Lieutenant Charles Thomas led his platoon to capture a strategically vital village on the Siegfried Line in 1944 despite losing half his men and suffering a number of wounds himself.

Ultimately, in 1993 a US Army commission determined that seven men, including Baker, Rivers and Thomas, had been denied the Army's highest award simply 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 6, 2022

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781472852861

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781472852861
      • File size: 6953 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2021

      Of nearly five hundred recipients of the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor for military service in the Second World War, only seven were Black. Those seven only received their medals in 1997 when President Clinton elevated their Distinguished Service Crosses (and in one case, a Silver Star) to the nation's highest combat award, and only because of activist campaigns on their behalf. Military historian Child (The Lost Eleven: The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II) presents each of the seven cases as a separate chapter, in which he recounts the service member's early years, entry into the military, training, and combat record, as well as relevant personal stories; citations for the awards are included at the end of each chapter. Child argues that too often, Black officers' heroic actions earned them less-prestigious awards, while some white officers received higher awards for lesser accomplishments. Much of the pertinent information on these seven service members can be found online, but the stories told in Child's book are all neatly gathered and contain details not easily found in more widely available sources. The book is complete with illustrations and notes for further reading. VERDICT This unique account should pique the interests of readers of military history and the experience of Black American service members during and after the Second World War.--Matthew Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ. Lib., Schuylkill Haven

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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