No Medals
Th e True Story of the Search for Historical Evidence Necessary
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
When I reached for another piece of newspaper to use as kindling on the old family fireplace, a headline caught my eye: Finally, US Honors Black Vets' Valor. It was from the Tuesday, July 6, 1999 Detroit Free Press. The paper contained a copy of a syndicated article entitled, "Finally, US Honors Black Vets' Valor". The column went on to congratulate then President Bill Clinton for issuing an executive order to recognize over-looked black veterans of WWII with commendations. This is where the story begins. The newspaper article mentioned a 79-year-old retired, black combat veteran who finally received a Bronze Star. The very idea of this serviceman receiving recognition after all these years lit me with a flaming thought hotter than the spark that was supposed to start the hearth fire. What about our dad? He had done some things during the war hadn't he? As the growing fireplace blaze began to crackle, I remembered he had many stories, but as I searched my memory, I could only recollect a few. I was a kid along with my brothers and sisters when he told us. Now as an adult I felt angry at myself and a little guilty because I hadn't paid closer attention to him when he was alive. As the stories I could remember came into my consciousness, I rationalized the loss of his accounts while considering the delusion that most of us harbor. We never expect anybody, especially a loved one to die. Maybe now I could see if I could get something special for for dad, mom and the family other than the memorial american flag that draped his coffin.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
No Medals is a Christmas story wrapped around a search of government records to locate the file of a deceased, black World War II veteran, author Peter C. Banks’s father, John Henry Banks Jr. The investigation to find the records begins in 2000 and concludes on Christmas Eve, one year later. Peter Banks recounts the steps that he took to find his father’s service records—steps that anyone can follow if they would like to locate the war history of a relative who was a veteran of World War II.
The journey is sprinkled with bitter disappointments and exciting revelations as Banks tries to confirm his father’s service as an acting corporal in World War II—a common duty that became a life-threatening activity during his service tour in Europe. At the time of the elder Banks’s military service, most of the war experiences of black veterans, no matter how heroic, were not treated with the same respect as those of white soldiers.
No Medals paints a vivid picture of the segregation of the United States Army of the 1940s. For Banks, it completes his journey to respect his father’s dying words, “Do something good; leave a positive legacy in your life … try to do something that will last!”
About the Author
Peter C. Banks grew up with his parents and nine siblings in Detroit, Michigan, where he continues to live today. He received his undergraduate degree in journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He has a wide range of career experience. Most recently, he worked as an investigator for a school district.