Politics Mary Mata March 19, 2014

24 Can’t Settle Score: Latino Vets See Racism Despite Medals

By Bill Briggs, NBCNews

One man slithered across an open field toward a manned tank, climbed atop and chucked in a grenade, saving his exposed company.

Two others held their ground — each alone — firing into enemy thickets while fellow troops escaped and until the heroes, inevitably, were killed.

 For decades, those three soldiers, and many like them, were denied the U.S. military’s highest decoration, veterans’ advocates claim, simply due to the last names on their uniforms: Gomez, Pena and Vera.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans — 17 Latinos (including Sgt. Eduardo C. Gomez, Master Sgt. Mike C. Pena and Pvt. Miguel A. Vera) plus five Jewish vets.

The ceremony ends a Congress-ordered review of old battlefield heroism potentially overlooked by past commanders due to ethnic prejudices.

But when it comes to that elite, gold-plated star — awarded for valor “beyond the call of duty” — some Latino veterans say such racial biases remain entrenched at the Pentagon.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo by Brett Whaley]

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