At the end WWII 473 men had been honoured by the United States for their bravery and sacrifice by receiving the Medal of Honor. The Medal was awarded to men of all ranks - from Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at the top all the way down to 18-year-old Private Joseph Merrell. Although 1 million African Americans served in the military during the war, not one was awarded the Medal of Honor, this being despite some extraordinary acts of valour.
In 1993 a US Army commission reviewed cases from recipients of America’s second-highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross, and determined that a number of these men had been denied the Army’s highest award simply due to racial discrimination.
In this episode, I’m joined by Robert Child author of Immortal Valor: The Black Medal of Honor Winners of World War II.
Patreon:
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207 - Tank Warfare in North Africa, 1942-43
206 - The Extraordinary Life of Journalist Wallace Carroll
205 - Victory to Defeat: The British Army 1918-40
204 - Armour in the Pacific
203 - The Battle of Britain, July 1940
202 - Leningrad, 1941-42
201 - Japanese Americans in WWII
200 - The Life of Mrs George S Patton
199 - Patton, August - December 1944
198 - Kesselring
197 - Kohima
196 - Winthrop Bell: Cracking the Code
195 - Their Finest Hour Project
194 - The Battle of Leyte Gulf
193 - London Underground
192 - 'The Angels', The 11th Airborne Division
191 - US Glider Pilots of World War II
190 - Mussolini's Last 10 Days
189 - The Stalingrad Airlift
188 - Company of Heroes
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