Vernon Baker, the last surviving Black Medal of Honor Recipient from WWII, died on Tuesday this week after losing his battle with brain cancer.
In 1997, Vernon Baker was the lone survivor among just seven black soldiers selected to receive the nation's highest award for battlefield valor 52 years after the war ended.
Baker led his men through heavy fire and minefields after his commander abandoned him and his troops. At the time, some felt, because the units were segregated, the blacks couldn’t fight. Military segregation was implemented by Woodrow Wilson in 1913. When Baker tried to join the Army in 1941, a recruiter told him there was no quota for enlisting "you people."
No black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II, although Baker did receive the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army's second-highest award for bravery. In 1993, Army officials contacted Shaw University, a historically black college in Raleigh, N.C., to study whether there was a racial disparity in the way Medal of Honor recipients were selected.
The study concluded that the political climate and common Army practices guaranteed that no black soldier would ever receive the award. The researchers recommended that 10 soldiers receive the medal, and the Army chose seven from that list. But since the statutory limit for presentation had expired, Congress was required to pass legislation that allowed the president to award the Medals of Honor.
Even though he received his duly earned award late, it was in fact earned. I appreciate his service to our country, and pray for him and his family.
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