The remarkable story of seven African-American soldiers denied the Medal of Honor for more than 50 years due to their race, and their extraordinary acts of bravery.
These are their stories..
In 1997, more than 50 years after the war, President Clinton finally awarded the Medal of Honor to these seven heroes, sadly all but one of them posthumously.
Ultimately, in 1993 a US Army commission determined that seven men, including Baker, Rivers and Thomas, had been denied the Army\'s highest award simply due to racial discrimination.
Meanwhile Lieutenant Charles Thomas led his platoon to capture a strategically vital village on the Siegfried Line in 1944 despite losing half his men and suffering a number of wounds himself.
Or Sergeant Reuben Rivers, who spearheaded his tank unit\'s advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded.
Men like Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machine guns, an observation post, and a German dugout.
But recent historical investigations have brought to light some of the extraordinary acts of valor performed by Black soldiers during the war.
The omission remained on the record for over four decades.
Despite the fact that more than one million African-Americans served, not a single Black soldier received the Medal of Honor.
In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during World War II, they recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 recipients.
The remarkable story of seven African-American soldiers denied the Medal of Honor for more than 50 years due to their race, and their extraordinary acts of bravery
