‘They gave it all’

The other recipient still alive is Melvin Morris, who became one of the first soldiers to don a “green beret” in 1961 and volunteered twice for deployments to Vietnam during the war. Morris endured massive enemy fire directed at him and his men — he was hit three times — but was able to reach a fellow commander who’d been killed and recover the body. He also retrieved a map that included strategic information that would have been trouble if it fell into enemy hands.

“Those that aren’t even here to receive their medals, those are my heroes,” said Morris, who retired from the Army in1986 as a sergeant first class. “They gave their whole life. They gave everything. They gave it all.”

The Army conducted the review under a directive from Congress in the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act. The law required that the record of each Jewish-American and Hispanic-American veteran who received a Service Cross during or after World War II be reviewed for possible upgrade to the Medal of Honor.

Civil rights link

Latinos have served in the U.S. military for generations because they see it as a chance to change their circumstances, get out of poverty or obtain an education, Garcia said.

Many Latinos who served in the military lat- er would be the ones who fought for equal treatment, he added.

Albert Gonzalez, the national commander of the American GI Forum, the largest HispanicAmerican veterans group, said recognizing the veterans with the Medal of Honor shows a willingness in the country to face a blemish in American history.

“It says to us that the country hasn’t forgotten us even though they keep certain doors closed to us,” he said.

Erevia said he thinks there were people more deserving of the highest honor than him, including a soldier who carried two wounded comrades out of harm’s way just minutes before he was shot in the head and killed.

“I think he deserved it more than I did,” he said.