The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious military award given to members of the Armed Forces. The medal is awarded by the United States President to military members who have demonstrated military valor. While there are over 3,500 recipients, only 92 are Black Medal of Honor recipients. Suggested read:Korean War Dates: Three Years of Battle, a Lifetime of Recovery

List of Black Medal of Honor Recipients

How many Black Medal of Honor recipients are there? There are currently 92 who have received the award. Here’s the list of the Black Medal of Honor recipients that deserve recognition.

1. Sergeant William H. Carney
2. Private William H. Barnes
3. First Sergeant Powhatan Beaty
4. First Sergeant James H. Bronson
5. Sergeant Major Christian A. Fleetwood
6. Private James Gardner
7. Sergeant James H. Harris
8. Sergeant Alfred B. Hilton
9. Sergeant Major Milton M. Holland
10. Corporal Miles James
11. Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith
12. First Sergeant Alexander Kelly
13. First Sergeant Robert Pinn
14. First Sergeant Edward Ratcliff
15. Private Charles Veale
16. Sergeant Major Thomas Hawkins
17. Sergeant Decatur Dorsey
18. Private Bruce Anderson
19. Sergeant Major Milton Murray Holland
20. Robert Blake
21. John Lawson
22. James Mifflin
23. Joachim Pease
24. Aaron Anderson
25. William H. Brown
26. Wilson Brown
27. Thomas English
28. Seaman: John Davis
29. Seaman: Alphonse Girandy
30. Seaman: John Johnson
31. Seaman: John Smith
32. Seaman: Robert Augustus Sweeney
33. Cooper: William Johnson
34. Ship’s Cook First Class: Daniel Atkins
35. Seaman: Joseph Noil
36. Sergeant Emanuel Stance
37. Corporal Clinton Greaves
38. Sergeant George Jordan
39. Sergeant Thomas Boyne
40. Sergeant John Denny
41. Sergeant Henry Johnson
42. First Sergeant Moses Williams
43. Private Augustus Walley
44. Corporal William O. Wilson
45. Sergeant Benjamin Brown
46. Private Pompey Factor
47. Private Adam Paine
48. Private William Thompkins
49. Trumpeter Isaac Payne
50. Sergeant John Ward
51. Sergeant (First Lieutenant) William McBryar
52. Corporal Isaiah Mays
53. Sergeant Thomas Shaw
54. Sergeant Brent Woods
55. Edward L. Baker, Sergeant Major
56. George H. Wanton
57. William H. Tompkins
58. Dennis Bell
59. Fitz Lee
60. Robert Penn
61. Corporal Freddie Stowers
62. 1st LT. Vernon J. Baker, Company C – 370th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Division
63. Staff Sergeant Edward A. Carter, Jr., U.S. Army 56th Armored Infantry, 12 Armored Division, (No. 1 Provisional)
64. 1st LT. John R. Fox, Cannon Company, 366th Infantry, 92nd Division
65. PFC Willy F. James, Jr., U.S. Army Company G, 413th Infantry Regiment, 104th Division
66. Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers, U.S. Army Company A, 761st Tank Battalion, 3rd Army
67. 1st Lt. Charles L. Thomas, U.S. Army Company C, 614st Tank Destroyer Battalion, 103rd Division
68. Pvt. George Watson, U.S. Army, Birmingham, Alabama, 29th Quartermaster Regiment
69. PFC William Thompson
70. Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton
71. PFC Milton L. Olive III
72. Private First Class Garfield M. Langhorn
73. Platoon Sergeant Matthew Leonard
74. Sergeant Donald Russell Long
75. Captain Riley Leroy Pitts
76. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Calvin Rogers
77. First Lieutenant Ruppert L. Sargent
78. Specialist Fifth Class Clarence Eugene Sasser
79. Staff Sergeant Clifford C. Sims
80. Staff Sergeant Melvin Morris
81. Gunnery Sergeant John Canley
82. First Lieutenant John E. Warren, Jr.
83. Sergeant First Class William Maud Bryant
84. PFC James Anderson, Jr.
85. PFC Oscar P. Austin
86. Sergeant Rodney M. Davis
87. PFC Robert H. Jenkins Jr.
88. Specialist Sixth Class Lawrence Joel
89. PFC Ralph H. Johnson
90. Specialist Five Dwight Hal Johnson
91. Sergeant First Class Webster Anderson
92. Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley, Jr.

You can explore the story of Vietnam Vet and Medal of Honor recipient Melvin Morris below.

Notable African American Heroes in History

While the list above does commemorate African Americans in the military who have shown great strength, there are some who stand out. Robert Blake was the first Black Medal of Honor recipient in 1864. During the American Civil War, he was a slave who performed tasks that led to the enemies leaving their positions. While Blake was the first Black recipient, William Carney was the first Black person to actually perform an action for which he received the Medal of Honor, though he was given the award later. During the Civil War, Carney did not let the flag touch the ground, even when he was injured and in severe pain. Before 1997, no Black military men from World War II had received the award, and a study in 1993 discovered discrimination against Black people that prevented them from being recognized. President Clinton awarded the first group of black Veterans from World War II. Vernon Baker, Edward A. Carter Jr., John R. Fox, Willy F. James Jr., Ruben Rivers, Charles L. Thomas, and George Watson all received the medal. Six of the members had passed, and Vernon Baker was the only living recipient. Robert Augustus Sweeney is the only Black recipient to have received the medal twice. The first medal was awarded because he saved a shipmate from drowning, and the second medal was awarded because he rescued another member who fell overboard from a vessel.

Challenges for African Americans With the Medal of Honor

Racism barring the awarding of the Medal of Honor to Black heroes was especially present in the past. In the first forty years that the Medal of Honor was being awarded, the ratio of nominations of Black people to White people was not equal. When Black people did receive awards, they were usually delayed, such as Carney’s, as he did not receive his medal until 1900. Racism became even more prominent with the award in World War I due to the Jim Crow laws that were present in the military. Because of this, there were no Black people from World War I and World War II that received the medal until 1997. From 1941 to 1945, the Navy failed to nominate Black Sailors for the Medal of Honor.

Recognizing Valor and Heroism

Today, Captain Paris Davis is another Black man that is close to being awarded for a heroic act on the battlefield. During the Vietnam War, he ignored an order to leave the field and instead chose to save lives in a firefight. Davis’s nomination for the award will hopefully add him to the list of Black Medal of Honor recipients. However, there are no Black female Medal of Honor recipients. We can only hope that Black female military members can be recognized for their continued acts of courage on the battlefield and one day be awarded for their bravery and strength with the Medal of Honor. Read next:All-Black Female 6888th Central Postal Battalion To Be Recognized

Image: Robert Blake (Wiki Commons), William Carney (U.S. Army), Paris Davis (Michael A. McCoy for The New York Times)