These are America's Black Medal of Honor recipients [View all]

Black Americans have participated in every war of our nation’s history, fighting not just for the American ideal, but also their place in it. For many, fighting for their nation overseas was only one front; the second one being against racism and discrimination back at home.

This discrimination took many forms from the segregation of units, the assignment of menial jobs and a lack of recognition for their valor in service of the nation. The nation’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, has often been refused to Black service members since its creation by the Department of the Navy during the Civil War in 1862.

The Medal of Honor is the nation’s original award for valor in combat, created during the Civil War as a way to build morale among the Union Forces. Of the 3,458 MoHs given, 40% were awarded during the Civil War itself. It was not until World War I that the U.S. military offered other awards for valor in combat such as the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star, and not until World War II that the Medal of Honor could only be awarded for valor in combat with the enemy.

92 MoHs have been awarded to 90 Black recipients. Up until World War I, the vast majority were given to Black recipients in a timely manner, but during WWI and WW2, Black service members were refused the right to be honored for their valor. The awards for those conflicts took over 50 years to be given, and only one Black servicemember was still alive when the ceremony occurred. The most recent award of a MoH was given to Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe on Dec. 16 2021 to his widow Tamara, sixteen years after his actions in Iraq on Oct. 17, 2005, where he gave his life rescuing soldiers under his command while under fire and aflame.

As part of Black History Month, Task and Purpose created a list of every Black servicemember who has been awarded the Medal of Honor, in honor of their service and sacrifices. Here they are, with the text of each service member’s full citation in quotation marks:

https://taskandpurpose.com/history/black-medal-of-honor-recipients/