Medals of honor

By Times Staff
Published August 28, 2005

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No African-American soldier was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II. In 1993 the Army contracted Shaw University in North Carolina to study whether there was a racial disparity in the way Medal of Honor recipients were selected. Shaw's team researched the issue and, finding that there was disparity, recommended 10 soldiers for the medal. Of those 10, seven received the award. In October 1996 Congress passed legislation that allowed the president to award these medals after the statutory limit had expired.

The Medals of Honor were presented by President Bill Clinton on Jan. 13, 1997. Vernon Baker of St. Maries, Idaho, was the only recipient still living; the other six soldiers received their awards posthumously. They were Edward A. Carter Jr. of Los Angeles; John R. Fox of Cincinnati; Willy F. James Jr. of Kansas City, Mo.; Ruben Rivers of Oklahoma City; Charles L. Thomas of Detroit; and George Watson of Birmingham, Ala.