Historically, minority U.S. service members have been less likely than their white counterparts to receive medals of valor for valorous acts. Due to that systemic racism, many hundreds of veterans from past wars and conflicts did not receive the Medal of Honor, the Silver Star, or service-specific awards like the Distinguished Service Cross. 

In the years after World War II, the Korean War, and the American war in Vietnam, the U.S. military reviewed the records of minority service members but, until 2018, no such review of World War I minority service members’ records was attempted. 

Timothy Westcott, Damon Grosvenor, and Martin Roberson of Park University’s George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War, talk to the Library’s Anne Kniggendorf about their ongoing research into African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Jewish American, and Native American service members who may have been denied the Medal of Honor due to racial or religious discrimination. President Biden signed legislation in December approving the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, extending Park’s Valor Medals Review Project through 2028.