Although 1.2 million black Americans served in the armed forces in World War II, not one was honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration for valor.
For decades, black veterans have charged that racism was the reason for this anomaly. But the government did nothing.
This month, however, President Clinton will award the Medal of Honor to seven black World War II veterans, all but one of whom will receive it posthumously.
The belated awards are the result of an unusual project led by a Shaw University researcher, who documented the way the seven soldiers were denied the honor they had earned.
Daniel K. Gibran, who teaches political science at Shaw, says his study definitively answers long-standing questions about the “conspicuous absence” of black recipients of the Medal of Honor: “It was simply racism.” Segregation -- the rule in the Army at the time -- is inherently bigoted, he says.
The Department of Defense agreed to study the issue in 1993, under pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus. The Army invited historically black colleges to apply for a grant to conduct the study. (The Navy has yet to do so, and the Air Force was not an independent service in World War II.)
Mr. Gibran’s specialty is international relations, not military history. But when a Shaw vice-president told him about the project, he was intrigued. “I was aware that not much work had been done in this area,” he says, “so I knew this study would yield tangible results, and that something would be done.”
Mr. Gibran called Richard Kohn, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a former chief historian of the Air Force. Mr. Kohn agreed to participate, as did three other military historians, all of whom had served in the military. The Army awarded the Shaw team $325,000 for the study.
“We started out with the objective of discovering if there were any unprocessed recommendations for black soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor, and if not, why,” says Mr. Gibran.
Six months into their research, Mr. Gibran and his colleagues had found that there were, in fact, no such recommendations. They then looked at whether any black soldiers should have received the medal, based on their records.
The research took them to the National Archives, to the Truman and Roosevelt Presidential libraries, to the personal papers of World War II generals, and to the Center of Military History at Carlisle Barracks, in Carlisle, Pa., to examine the records of the all-black 92nd Division.
Mr. Gibran says one of the most moving parts of the work was during his interviews with white officers who had commanded black soldiers. “They were remorseful. Some even started to cry. I guess they recognize what was done, and that they were part of it.”
“Black soldiers had to endure much more in terms of hardship,” adds Mr. Gibran. “Most of the time, they did not get enough training.” And it was common knowledge among them that their superiors hesitated to give them promotions or honors, for fear of “tainting” white recipients.
The Congressional Medal of Honor was established by President Lincoln. A 1919 law set up precise rules for the medal, which can be awarded only for heroism in active combat. A recipient, the law says, “must have distinguished himself by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” Eligibility requires two eyewitness accounts and a recommendation by a superior officer.
The Shaw team reviewed reports about black soldiers in World War II who had received recognitions below the Medal of Honor, or whose bravery had been officially noted. On the basis of those reports, the team identified black soldiers whose deeds were comparable to those of white men who had received the highest honor.
Mr. Gibran says his research not only rights an old wrong, but also allows the award to meet its own ideals.
“The Medal of Honor is not the medal itself, but the idea and concept it represents,” he says. “It represents the American ideal and captures the essence of the American spirit as it rises above the din of war. It is the symbol of truth and what the individual can do under dire circumstances.”
As news of President Clinton’s decision to award the medals has become public, Shaw University and its report have been showered with attention -- which doesn’t happen every day to historically black colleges.
Also receiving unexpected attention is Vernon Baker, the only survivor of the seven men identified in the Shaw report. Four of the other six men died in combat.
Mr. Baker fought in Italy with a company from the 92nd Division. In one encounter, he killed seven Germans and saved his commanding officer’s life.
After retiring from the Army in 1968, he moved to Pacific Grove, Cal., where he worked as a counselor with the Red Cross. Today, he lives in St. Maries, Idaho.
“It’s not something I’ve thought about every day,” Mr. Baker says of his war experiences. “My feeling is that the war is over. I did my job to the best of my ability, and as far as I was concerned, that was that.”
“In those days, the powers that be would not listen to blacks. I stayed angry during my younger days, but I grew up and matured and began to look at people who had racist thoughts and just called them ignorant.”
Mr. Baker says he is grateful for the Shaw study, and hopes the government has learned what he sees as its essential lesson: “A soldier is a soldier and does his job regardless of race.”
Mr. Gibran calls Mr. Baker “a remarkable man.”
“When I asked him how he felt about being a black man fighting and risking his life for this country when he knew about the racism and the social milieu that existed here, he just burst into tears. I think it’s very painful and very emotional.
“They passed through a lot, but this honor is a little joy at long last.”