Immortal Valor: The Black Medal of Honor Winners of World War II

by Robert Child

The remarkable story of the seven African American soldiers ultimately awarded the World War II Medal of Honor, and the 50-year campaign to deny them their recognition. 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. Despite the fact that more than one million African-Americans served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor. The omission remained on the record for over four decades.But recent historical investigations have brought to light some of the extraordinary acts of valor performed by black soldiers during the war. Men like Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machineguns, an observation post, and a German dugout. Or Sergeant Reuben Rivers, who spearhead his tank unit's advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded. 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. 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. 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. These are their stories.

Genres: History

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 6, 2022

About the author

Listen to the weekly military history podcast Point of the Spear with Robert Child and join Rob's newsletter at www.robchild.net

Award-winning author, Robert Child, is a master of action, pacing, and cinematic storytelling in his visually vivid narratives. His latest book is IMMORTAL VALOR, (Osprey, Bloomsbury Publishing, PLC) the remarkable stories of seven African American Medal of Honor winners from WWII who were denied recognition for over 50 years.

Rob possesses that rare ability to transport readers instantly into gripping, intelligent page-turning narratives that feature well-developed characters and cinematic action that jumps off the page like a major motion picture.

Military history is one of his long time passions. He has produced several films on this topic and has won more than 25 film and television awards plus an Emmy® nomination.

The military is in Rob's DNA; his Great-grandfather, Thomas W. Child, fought at Gettysburg and Fredericksburg with the 18th Massachusetts Infantry. At Gettysburg, he fought at Little Round Top on the Third Day. At Fredericksburg, Thomas was singled out for gallantry in an order issued by his commander Col. Hayes, following the battle for 'charging the stonewall at Marye's Heights twice.'

Reviews

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A testament to Soldiers worldwide, this book focuses on the Black Medal of Honor recipients that were finally awarded their due due to actions around WW2. It's a good history of the Soldiers and Marine that encapsulates this book. I don't have much to say but they all earned it from their personal histories that the author put out in this book. It's awe-inspiring of the heroics they did during their time in service, as well as personal lives. Other than one, all had to suffer abject racism and hostility because they were simply Black, and should be read by any historian of WW2. It's a great book and can't recommend it enough.

[Henry Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a crime not to recognize valor, extreme valor in battle, regardless of skin color. These men fought together, bled together and died together for a cause that’s still plaguing our society today. As a white man i personally apologize to the families of each of the men that gave their lives so others may have the precious opportunities presented to them over the past 80 years. These men are heroes. Full stop.

[Paul Alva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which is very entertaining. This book should be a course requirement at the high school level and beyond.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

My interest in this subject was piqued after a trip to the National WWII museum and the valor delayed exhibit.

The racism these heroes and their contemporaries faced was astonishing