"There was never any doubt about the bravery of Sgt William Shemin and Pvt Henry Johnson, but it took almost 100 hundred years for it to be officially recognised. Campaigners for the two US soldiers - one of them Jewish, one of them black and a member of the so-called Harlem Hellfighters – had long claimed that discrimination and bigotry had stood in the way of them being honoured. On Tuesday, the two men were finally being posthumously given the Medal of Honour for their actions in rescuing comrades amid the misery and death of the battlefields of France. The Associated Press said Mr Shemin repeatedly dodged gunfire to pull wounded colleagues to safety, while Mr Johnson managed to save a friend from his all-black regiment while single-handedly fighting off a surprise German attack. President Barack Obama recognised the men with the highest award for bravery for their actions on the field. Advocates for the two men led Congress to pass an exemption from Medal of Honour rules that specified that such actions have to have taken place within five years to be considered. "Nobody who serves our country should ever be forgotten," Mr Obama said at the ceremony in Washington. Ms Shemin's daughter, Elsie Shemin-Roth of St Louis, worked for years to gather documents in support of the bid for her father and accepted the award from Mr Obama on his behalf. In the early 2000s, she learned of a law that reviewed cases of Jews who may have been denied medals they earned in World War II and fought for passage of a law to provide similar reviews for Jewish World War I veterans, the AP said." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/william-shemin-and-henry-johnson-jewish-and-black-soldiers-receive-world-war-i-medal-of-honor-amid-claims-of-discrimination-10292301.html
Saw this the other day, and all such after the fact awards, and related campaigning, still leave me cold. Not unlike historical apologies, I feel that things were judged by the standards of the day, and this activity decades later is a peculiar addendum to history, more about the feelings of a current generation than a meaningful award. You either earned a MoH, VC etc. at the time by contemporary criteria, or you did not. No matter how genuinely heart-felt, vociferous and well-connected an after the fact campaign may become.
I agree. Not sure what the award achieves. The recipients and their immediate families are past caring. Whoever is privileged to accept the award probably never even met the person who won it. It will give the descendants some thing to brag about, but in the end, those that would have really appreciated it are gone.
I respectfully, but wholeheartedly disagree with the sentiment displayed by Von Poop and Sandwichery. These would appear to be singular acts of bravery that have been noted and described. Documented and deserved. Furthermore, that these acts should be belittled, denigrated and ignored purely on the basis of some form of discrimination is entirely unacceptable. Or even the suspicision thereof. Lastly, in reveiving her father's award, you'd think she counts as "immediate family", and considerably far from "past caring". What can be questioned, is the degree to which these cases are unique; there are always acts of bravery that go unrecorded, unnoticed, and therefore unrewarded, as many veterans can tell you. One issue is that there are so many acts of bravery that go unrewarded, that the recipients of the rewards can feel disconnected between what they did, and the level of recognition they receive, expecially in comparison to the bravery of many who did not make it back. As to contemporary criteria, that too is a shifting target. Or consider the case of Manahi (28th Maori Battalion): During the Battle of Takrouna in Tunisia, April 1943, Sergeant Haane Manahi of Te Arawa led a small band of Maori soldiers up a 300-metre-high rocky outcrop. Under mortar and machine-gun fire, they captured an enemy stronghold held by more than 300 Italian and German troops. The act was described by Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks as ‘the most gallant feat of arms I witnessed in the course of the war’. While a field marshal and three generals recommended Manahi for the Victoria Cross (VC), this recommendation was changed, and a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was awarded instead. It is not known who made this decision or for what reasons. THe most probable reason was the actions of his fellow soldier, Second Lieutenant Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu in the very same (Maori) battalion in March 1943; was recommended for the VC as well. "Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu was the first Māori soldier to win the VC. A second lieutenant in the 28th (Maori) Battalion’s C Company, he took part in the assault at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia, in March 1943. The battalion’s objective was a strategically important hill known as Point 209. The first task was to take high ground below the summit. Ngārimu led his platoon up one of these lower hills on 26 March, personally knocking out several machine-gun posts. After capturing the crest, his men repelled a number of fierce German counter-attacks during the night. Despite wounds to his shoulder and leg, Ngārimu refused to leave his position. He was killed the next morning fighting off another enemy attack. His VC was presented to his parents at a hui at Ruatōria on 6 October 1943." Being British, they couldn't very well give 2 VC's in such rapid succession to people in the same battalion. It just wasn't done. Especially if they're not European. Manahi survived, Ngārimu died. It appears thereon rested the decision to award Ngārimu the VC and Manahi the DCM. Nevertheless, the Maori Battalion received 99 honours and awards (excluding ‘mentioned in dispatches’ or m.i.d.s) – the highest number among the 11 New Zealand infantry battalions, and 70% more than the New Zealand battalion average (58).
Precisely. Some got/get high honours, some didn't/don't despite deserving them. Get over it, or descend into a morass of re-analysing every award, or chimearic lack of one, for every serviceman. Odd to place our contemporary judgements so precisely over an event c.100 years past. Might as well give everyone a VC and say they all deserved one just for playing the game. Patronising the past.
I'm happy these men got their awards. Don't forget, a lot of medals are awarded posthumously when the man himself is past caring. And let's not forget also, that awards of all kinds are a pretty subjective thing. One man does a truly heroic deed when no eyes are that can recommend an award are watching, and he gets nothing. Another person performs a lesser deed under the eyes of a superior and gets an award. In the end, all men who do their duty under fire are heroes.
When lack of recognition is the result of discrimination (which in this case it was) then it is only proper that awards be given. They should have been awarded at the time. Late is better than never. The daughters of one soldier got his MOH, so it was appropriate. Posthumous awards are given regularly, so I see no reason why it should not be the case here.
The Bronze Star conversion post WW2 for all CIB holders is an interesting way to honor all combat veterans of that conflict.
