| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Obits- |
| Vernon Baker, Belated Medal of Honor Recipient, Dies at 90 |
| 2010-07-15 |
| Vernon Baker, who was the only living black veteran awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in World War II, receiving it 52 years after he wiped out four German machine-gun nests on a hilltop in northern Italy, died Tuesday at his home near St. Maries, Idaho. He was 90. "I was a soldier and I had a job to do," Mr. Baker said after receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for bravery, from President Bill Clinton in a White House ceremony on Jan. 13, 1997. In the early 1990s, responding to requests from black veterans and a white former captain who had commanded black troops in combat, the Army asked Shaw University, a historically black college in Raleigh, N.C., to investigate why no blacks had received the Medal of Honor during World War II. The inquiry found no documents proving that blacks had been discriminated against in decisions to award the medal, but concluded that a climate of racism had prevented recognition of heroic deeds. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #2 And yet the ones who were allowed to serve in supported units were very brave. Consider the Nisei who served in Europe too. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2010-07-15 19:54 |
| #1 In the early 1990s, responding to requests from black veterans and a white former captain who had commanded black troops in combat, the Army asked Shaw University, a historically black college in Raleigh, N.C., to investigate why no blacks had received the Medal of Honor during World War II. The inquiry found no documents proving that blacks had been discriminated against in decisions to award the medal, but concluded that a climate of racism had prevented recognition of heroic deeds. It seems nobody establishes a link between MOH and the fact that Blacks were banned from combat roles in the Army and USMC. Or that due to segregation the few who were in combat roles were in All-Black units who most of the time were poorly trained and led and thus didn't fare well in combat. There is nothing to build up bravery like seeing enemies falling while feeling your training and leadership will allow you to escape unscathed. There is nothing to destroy bravery like feeling you are no match for the enemy while you see your comrades falling. |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-07-15 09:56 |