Vernon Baker was the only living black veteran who was awarded the Medal of Valor for World War II.
Prior to the 1997 awarding of medals by President Bill Clinton, there had been 433 Medals of Valor awarded to military service members who fought in World War II ... but none of those medals had gone to any black service members. An inquiry conducted in the 1990s found that an atmosphere of racism had prevented blacks from being recognized for heroic deeds in the war. Ultimately seven black veterans were recommended for the Medal of Valor. Six of those men had already died, so were awarded the medals after their deaths. Vernon Baker was the only one of those seven black men honored with the Medal of Valor who was alive at the time of the awarding ceremony in 1997.