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

by Robert Child

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472852854
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/11/2022
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	631,857
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Robert Child is a military history writer, director, and published author with Penguin/Random House. Besides his co-authored book, The Lost Eleven, with Denise George, he has published nine other nonfiction military history titles and military thrillers over the last eight years. The film rights to The Last Eleven have been acquired. Robert has garnered more than 26 writing and directing awards including an Emmy® nomination and is one of only a handful of writer/directors whose work has screened in the United States Congress. He lives in Atlanta.

Table of Contents

Author's Note

List of Illustrations

Introduction

PART ONE – CHARLES L. THOMAS

Chapter 1: Graduation Day

Chapter 2: Last Stop USA

Chapter 3: A Hell of Fire

PART TWO – VERNON J. BAKER

Chapter 4: The Boy from Cheyenne

Chapter 5: The Italian Front

Chapter 6: Storming the Castle

PART THREE – WILLY JAMES JR.

Chapter 7: A Fifth Platoon

Chapter 8: Crossing the Rhine

Chapter 9: Into the Lion's Mouth

PART FOUR – EDWARD ALLEN CARTER JR.

Chapter 10: Baptism by Fire

Chapter 11: A Mercenary Man

Chapter 12: March to the Rhine

PART FIVE – GEORGE WATSON

Chapter 13: Picnic at a Hanging

Chapter 14: Off to War

Chapter 15: Operation Lilliput

PART SIX – RUBEN RIVERS

Chapter 16: Black Gold

Chapter 17: A New Esprit de Corps

Chapter 18: Patton's Panthers

PART SEVEN – JOHN FOX

Chapter 19: Transfer Student

Chapter 20: Shipping Out

Chapter 21: Give 'em Hell

Epilogue: The Rest of the Story

Afterword: The Long Road to Recognition

Acknowledgments

Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Immortal Valor tells the story of America's unsung heroes in a moving and insightful narrative. The research is meticulous and detailed, making each character rise up off the page.” —Martin J. Dugard, New York Times bestselling co-author of 'Killing Patton'

“The contributions and sacrifices made by African-Americans during World War II were endless, and many times unheralded unless you served alongside and depended on these courageous men in battle. War does not discriminate, but people do. These seven Medal of Honor recipients rose above that prejudice, and this well-written book shares their incredible stories that the public needs to hear.” —Tim Gray, Founder and President, The World War II Foundation

“This is the only comprehensive narrative written about the African American Medal of Honor recipients of WWII to date. Extremely well written, with very little personal background on some of these men to work with, Child manages to bring each of these heroes' stories to life on a personal level. Child carefully reconstructs each recipient's life prior to his act of valor, demonstrating the character traits that made each an example of integrity, sacrifice and courage. This is a must-read book about seven black soldiers and their bravery at the highest level and the racial injustice that took over four decades to acknowledge. Well done!” —Arthur Collins, President, 5th Platoon, the black World War II education and reenactment group

“In Immortal Valor, Robert Child celebrates the lives of seven men whose valor, personal character, and love of country took them above and beyond the call of duty. We learn not just what they did to earn the Medal of Honor—an honor they were denied for far too long—but who they were as human beings, so that their examples can continue to touch us today.” —Edward G. Lengel, Ph.D., Chief Historian, National Medal of Honor Museum

“Immortal Valor tells the story of seven courageous Americans who deeply loved their country at a time when America did not love them back. When it counted most, these men risked their lives in a manner above and beyond the call of duty, proving that patriotism is not defined by skin color, but by a person's willingness to put cause and comrades first. Robert Child's inspiring book conveys a valuable lesson to anyone wishing to understand the full extent of the American character.” —Gregory J.W. Urwin Professor of History Temple University

“Child is able to mould the emotional and military experiences of each soldier in this novel, allowing the prose to flow easily as we are enraptured in tumultuous and heroic battle scenes.” —Aspects of History

“Timely and timeless, informative and memorable, unique and long overdue… Immortal Valor: The Black Medal of Honor Winners of World War II is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library World War II Histories & Biographies collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academicians, military history buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

12/01/2021

Of nearly five hundred recipients of the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor for military service in the Second World War, only seven were Black. Those seven only received their medals in 1997 when President Clinton elevated their Distinguished Service Crosses (and in one case, a Silver Star) to the nation's highest combat award, and only because of activist campaigns on their behalf. Military historian Child (The Lost Eleven: The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II) presents each of the seven cases as a separate chapter, in which he recounts the service member's early years, entry into the military, training, and combat record, as well as relevant personal stories; citations for the awards are included at the end of each chapter. Child argues that too often, Black officers' heroic actions earned them less-prestigious awards, while some white officers received higher awards for lesser accomplishments. Much of the pertinent information on these seven service members can be found online, but the stories told in Child's book are all neatly gathered and contain details not easily found in more widely available sources. The book is complete with illustrations and notes for further reading. VERDICT This unique account should pique the interests of readers of military history and the experience of Black American service members during and after the Second World War.—Matthew Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ. Lib., Schuylkill Haven

Library Journal