"Incontestable Proof Will Be Exacted": Historians, Asian Americans, and the Medal of Honor

Abstract

For more than a century the Medal of Honor has served as a revered symbol of valor and service to the nation. In the 1990s Japanese American veterans requested a review of their service in World War II to determine whether the U.S. Army has overlooked any of their number for the award. In 1996 a team of historians began a review of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who fought in that war. Their work resulted in the award of twenty-two new Medals of Honor in June 2000. The review was also a revealing journey into the challenges of amending public memory.

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“…Consequently, Clinton was able to sanction, in 2000, the award of the Medal of Honor to 20 Nisei veterans for acts of extraordinary heroism during the Second World War. The review of Medal of Honor cases came about as a result of “lingering suspicions that Asian Americans had been denied the nation’s highest honor” despite the all‐Nisei 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team being the most highly decorated unit of its size and duration of service in U.S. Army history (McNaughton, Edwards, and Price 2002, 12). Half a century after the conclusion of the Second World War, it became clear that some minority groups such as Hispanics and Native Americans were well represented as Medal of Honor recipients but that others were conspicuous by their absence.…”

“…Half a century after the conclusion of the Second World War, it became clear that some minority groups such as Hispanics and Native Americans were well represented as Medal of Honor recipients but that others were conspicuous by their absence. Congress “pressed the Clinton Administration to carry out two Medal of Honor reviews, first for African Americans and then for Asian Americans,” with the African American review resulting in seven awards made in 1997 (McNaughton, Edwards, and Price 2002, 14). Clinton supported affirmative action, endorsed legislation to end racial profiling, and sought to improve economic opportunities for women and minorities.…”