I .
Herman cited Prosecutceial
DMnioa, the process of giving
a first-time offender a chance to
pro be's no tbreatto society, as
an example of everyone' invol­
vement· the system. .
Anti-Ca mo
group to rally.
The Michigan Clergy
Coalition Aga. t Casino'
Gamb . wiDspoasor a
rally oppo ing casino on
SATURDAY, JULY 30
&om 2-00 to 3:30 p.m. at Ken­
nedy Sq e I dowDtown
Detroi
The b Uot proposal for
.. AUGUST2, for Detroi
r oppose casino
gambling to VOTE
YES •. .since it· worded thai
"Casino G mbling .i11 be
banned in the City of Detroit,
includiog Belle "
_di gn
ryloo
pentagon- balking
C A.. ,Sr.
NNPA News EdiJor
The Pentagon . . .
bureaucratic ee' and m· 1S1St:&n2
that the efforts of a Repub .
coegre man to per uade the
military to posthumo Iy ward
two Black War heroe the
Medal of onor a "matter of
. toric justice" j n't
B the military will have ·a
OD its hands", Rep Josepb
J. DioGuardi .(R., NY) a first
generation It· declared. He
stated that an army letter to
him is "an unacceptable
response".
In a letter to DioGuardi, As­
sistant Secretary of the Army
Delbert L. Spurlock, Jr., who is
. Black, clared that the time
limit for ucb wards - five
after co at action - has
rUD out and thus sho ing
prefere ce for one soldier over
several thousand others uld
be inappropriate. Spurlock's
COUDtcrpar� if! the Navy agrees.
IOGUARDI IS seeking to
ve the Army-boDOr Sgt. He�
Johnson, who served ·th e
369th Infantry in World War I,
and Seaman Doric Miller, 0
served aboard the Battle ip
West Virginia hen the
Japanese tracked Pearl Har­
bor.
Sgt. Johnson drove off 12
German soldiers, was gravely
wounded, but saved a soldier's
life. He awarded the highest
French honor, the Croix de
Guerre. He died i 1930.
Miller's heroics were even
more sigDa) because he was a
mess steward ( orked in the
ship's mess hall) and thus was
not consi dered a combatant (the
avy was rigidly segregated at
that time and most Blacks
served as mcssmen).
Nevertheless, he manned a
machinegun, after he helped
mcwe his mortally wounded cap­
tain &om the ship's bridge, and
fought heroically. He was killed
1ft 1943 during a torpedo attack.
LATE 11IE SECRETARY
of theN vya dedMiUeralet­
ter of commendation but the
_ clamor of the B press t the
time persuaded Admiral
Chester Nimitz, commander-in­
chief of the Pacific Fleet, to
upgrade that to the Navy Cross,
sec::oad highest award
DioGuardi to d NNP A begot
involYed with wba� he thought
"a impJe· ue" en a con­
stimen historian Leroy Ram­
sey contacted him in 1986. It
was lonely campaip, " he said.
ought it would be rather UD­
eventful. Then I received
Spuirlock's letter.·
DioGwarcfio insists that the
miliraryts rule IS upside down
and Ii not applied in several
other cases involving Blacks. It
. ,he repeats a "matter of simple
justice", He and Rep. Mickey
Lelan . D., TX) have eo-spoe­
sored bi to waive the statue of
limitations for the Medal of
I
HODOr so both Black heroes can
be considered � r the award
Blac veterans recaIJ with a
large depu of bi terness t e
rigid se�regation and brutal
prejudiCf they suffered under
during e two World Wars.
Many BI c - officers and en­
listed m and civilians - who
have se� even in recent years
at the Pentagon recall that
lingering tig of racism still
dog Bla promotio and ef ..
forts to secure top honors and
ignme ts.
awarded in World Wars I and II
went to any of the 1.5 million
lacks 0 fought in th ars.
He sa he w planning a
on Blac World ar II
erans, ut when he g into
"my r � I realized that no
Black ha received the Medal of
Honor in either of the World
Wars. 0 put the boo on the
bac bureer and too off on an
effort to if I could get that
righted."
Ramsef is a former . te
history profe sor at Hof tra
Univer ity.
According to Pentagon Army
spokesman LTC Greg Rixon,
the high. t ranking Black to
receive th Medal of Honor was
LTC Char Calvin Rogers. He
won it in ietn In, November 1,
1968. Tw years ago R gers
retired from th Army with the
rank of � r g neral,
