Obama to award Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans from 3 wars; follows review over prejudice
2/21/2014WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. All but three will be awarded the medal posthumously.
The awards ceremony will be March 18.
The unusually large number of recipients of the medal for conspicuous gallantry was the result of congressionally mandated review of war records to determine if any Jewish American or Hispanic American soldiers had been denied the Medal of Honor because of prejudice.
The White House says that during that review several soldiers who were neither Jewish nor Hispanic also had criteria worthy of the medal.
All but one of the recipients are enlisted men, from privates to master sergeants. One recipient is a World War II first lieutenant.