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PRINTER'S NO. 1512
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
258
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY MURT, BURGOS, SCHLOSSBERG, RABB, FRANKEL,
DONATUCCI, READSHAW, JOHNSON-HARRELL, MILLARD, KINSEY,
FREEMAN, SCHWEYER, SAINATO, HILL-EVANS AND McCLINTON,
APRIL 25, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS, APRIL 25, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States to create a task force
to review the records of minority service members who served
in World War I to determine if they were denied the Medal of
Honor or other valor awards due to discrimination and create
legislation that will lift statutes of limitations preventing
this important and necessary review.
WHEREAS, Award reviews for minority service members of other
wartime engagements have been conducted by the United States
military; and
WHEREAS, Each branch of the armed services of the United
States has regulations in place that permit no margin of error
in deciding whether a service member is deserving of the Medal
of Honor; and
WHEREAS, The act committed by the service member must have
conspicuously distinguished the service member by gallantry and
intrepidity at the risk of their life above and beyond the call
of duty in the following situations:
(1) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the
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United States;
(2) while engaged in military operations involving
conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
(3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged
in an armed conflict against an opposing force in which the
United States is not a belligerent party;
and
WHEREAS, Two posthumous Medal of Honor bestowals to Corporal
Freddie Stowers and Sergeant Henry Johnson, challenge the claims
of there being no black and few other minority Medal of Honor
recipients; and
WHEREAS, Minorities who served with valor during World War I
deserve our due diligence in acknowledging their service; and
WHEREAS, Of the 225 Medal of Honor awards presented to World
War I service members, only two were awarded to African-American
service members and one was awarded to a Hispanic-American
service member; and
WHEREAS, The American Legion, along with volunteers, is
planning to review the records of approximately 70 African-
American service members who may have been denied the Medal of
Honor or other valor awards; and
WHEREAS, Of those 70 African-American service members, eight
were nominated for a Medal of Honor; and
WHEREAS, The eight African-American service members had been
nominated for the award because their chain of command knew that
they committed an act that conspicuously distinguished
themselves by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their
life above and beyond the call of duty; and
WHEREAS, Although their chain of command felt that they
distinguished themselves beyond the call of duty, none of those
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eight African-American nominees were awarded the Medal of Honor
until the 1990s; and
WHEREAS, Of the eight African-American nominees, only two
were awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, in 1991 and 2015
after prior valor award reviews; and
WHEREAS, Researchers at Park University in Parkville,
Missouri, are reviewing the records of approximately 40,000
African-American troops who fought in combat during World War I;
and
WHEREAS, In addition to the African-American troops of World
War I, Park University researchers plan to eventually look into
the records of other minority groups, including Asian Americans,
Hispanic Americans, Jewish Americans and Native Americans; and
WHEREAS, At the time of consideration, the award criteria was
race-neutral when determining whether the service member
qualified for the particular valor award; and
WHEREAS, Due to prejudices and racial discrimination, many
minorities were not granted the same considerations for a valor
award when reviewing their actions and bravery during their
service in World War I; and
WHEREAS, It is important and necessary to research and
rightfully award minority service members valor awards for their
distinguished service during which they risked their lives and
went above and beyond the call of duty, reflecting honorably on
their units, the United States Armed Forces and their country;
and
WHEREAS, The American Legion adopted Resolution 109 in 2018
requesting legislation that would lift the statutes of
limitations preventing proper review of the records of minority
service members for their consideration of valor awards for
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their service in World War I; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
States to create a task force to review the records of minority
service members who served in World War I to determine if they
were denied the Medal of Honor or other valor awards due to
discrimination and create legislation that will lift statutes of
limitations preventing this important and necessary review; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the President of the United States, the presiding officers of
each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from
Pennsylvania.
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