Obama presenting Medal Of Honor to 24 Overlooked Veterans

A military aide holds up the Medal of Honor as the citation is read before U.S. President Barack Obama awarded US Marine Corps SGT Dakota Meyer in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2011. PHOTO/Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. President Barack Obama is moving to right old wrongs by belatedly awarding the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans who served during World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Just 3 of those being honored during Tuesday’s ceremony at the White House are still alive, all of them combat veterans of Vietnam.

The honors are being awarded after Congress ordered a review to determine whether service members of Jewish, Hispanic or of African American had been wrongly denied the Medal of Honor due to prejudice. All of those being honored had previously been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest military award.

Overall, 8 of the 24 fought in Vietnam, nine in Korea and seven in World War II.

According to Obama, “today the United States has a chance to set the record straight as America confronts its imperfections, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal.”

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