Seven Black men were awarded the Medal of Honor in WWII long after the conflict was over

The Allies recently celebrated the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which was the beginning of the invasion of France to overthrow the Nazi government in Germany. 

The movies recount the terrorizing experiences of men cut down by gunfire while running to the beach, while also depicting the jubilation of those who survived and were not harmed physically. The big-budget films include

“The Longest Day,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and “Big Red One.” 

But those films are short on the truth and long on lies.

The movies ignored the role Black soldiers played in the overthrow Nazi Germany.

Roughly 2,000 African American troops are believed to have hit the shores of Normandy in various capacities on June 6, 1944. 

Serving in a U.S. military still segregated by race, they encountered discrimination both in the service and when they came home.

The troops included the 320th Balloon Battalion, the 582nd Engineer Dump Truck Company, the 385th Quartermaster Truck Company, and the 490th Port Battalion with its 226th, 227th, 228th, and 229th Port Companies.”

Seven Blacks won the Medal of Honor racial prejudice prevented them from receiving their medals long after WWII had ended.

By 1945, 432 American service members had received the Medal of Honor for their gallantry in the face of enemy fire during World War II. 

Not a single Black man among them was recognized.

It took almost 50 years for the Army to recognize some of the incredible heroics of Black American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who served during the war.

More than a million Black men wore the uniforms of the United States in World War II, and many of them saw combat.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton initiated the Army’s review of its World War II records to determine why no Black men received the Medal of Honor. 

It discovered that a culture of discrimination in the awarding of medals prevented the Army from awarding the medal to a handful of deserving Black heroes. Only one of these vets was alive when the Medals of Honor were officially presented in 1997.