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.
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166 - Rodolfo Graziani
165 - P-51 Mustang
164 - Marshall and Stimson
163 - British Wartime Industry
162 - Tobruk
161 - Marine Aces of the South Pacific
159 - The Aztec Eagles
158 - With the Old Breed: EB Sledge
157 - General Patton
156 - Churchill, Master and Commander
155 - Pearl Harbor
154 - Chemical Weapons
153 - Canadian Army Civil Affairs Units
152 - U.S. Naval Gunfire Support in the Pacific
151 - Escape from Greece
150 - Eisenhower's Broad Front Strategy
149 - Australia's war with France
148 - Luftwaffe Special Weapons
147 - Operation Barbarossa
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