 On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal to seven African-American World War II veterans; of these, only Vernon Baker was still alive.On March 18, 2014, following a review of 23 other citations of Hispanic, and Jewish soldiers who may have been passed over for the Medal of Honor due to their race or religion, former Special Forces soldier Melvin Morris, an African American was selected to be included into the review in order to allow his Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) Medal, which is the United States Army's second highest award for combat valor to be upgraded to the Medal of Honor (MOH) the highest U.S. decoration for courage in combat.Twenty-five African Americans earned the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War, including seven sailors of the Union Navy, fifteen soldiers of the United States Colored Troops, and three soldiers of other Army units.