List of African - American Medal of Honor recipients The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces . Recipients must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States . Because of the nature of this medal , it is commonly presented posthumously . Of the 3 , 464 Medals of Honor awarded , 89 have been awarded to 88 different African American recipients . Robert Augustus Sweeney is one of nineteen men , and the only African American , to have been awarded two Medals of Honor . A 1993 study commissioned by the Army investigated racial discrimination in the awarding of medals . At the time , no Medals of Honor had been awarded to black soldiers who served in World War II . After an exhaustive review of files , the study recommended that several black Distinguished Service Cross recipients be upgraded to the Medal of Honor . 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 . Civil War . 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 . Fourteen African American men earned the Medal for actions in the Battle of Chaffin ' s Farm , where a division of U . S . Colored Troops saw heavy action . Another four men , all sailors , earned their Medals at the Battle of Mobile Bay . William Harvey Carney was the first African American to perform an action for which a Medal of Honor was awarded , but Robert Blake was the first to actually receive the Medal ( Blake ' s was issued in 1864 , Carney did not receive his until 1900 ) . It was common for Civil War Medals of Honor to be awarded decades after the conflict ended ; in one case , Andrew Jackson Smith ' s Medal was not awarded until 2001 , 137 years after the action in which he earned it . Smith ' s wait , caused by a missing battle report , is the longest delay of the award for any recipient , African American or otherwise . Indian Wars . Eighteen African Americans earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars of the western United States . Fourteen were " Buffalo Soldiers " , members of the Army ' s first peacetime black regiments . The four Buffalo Soldier regiments , the 9th Cavalry , 10th Cavalry , 24th Infantry , and 25th Infantry , fought in campaigns throughout the west . The remaining four Medal of Honor recipients were U . S . Army Indian Scouts recruited from among the Black Seminoles , a group of Seminole Indians of African descent . Spanish - American War . Six African Americans earned the Medal of Honor during the Spanish - American War : five Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment and one United States Navy sailor . Four of the five Buffalo Soldiers received the Medal for rescuing a trapped landing party during the Battle of Tayacoba . World War I . Freddie Stowers was the only African American to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in World War I . Stowers had led an assault on German trenches , continuing to lead and encourage his men even after being twice wounded . Stowers died of his wounds , and was shortly afterwards recommended for the Medal of Honor ; however , this recommendation was never processed . In 1990 , the Department of the Army conducted a review and the Stowers recommendation was uncovered . An investigation was launched , and based on results of the investigation the award of the Medal of Honor was approved . Stowers ' Medal of Honor was presented on April 24 , 1991 — seventy - three years after he was killed - in - action . In 2015 it was announced that Barack Obama , would present another African - American soldier from World War I with the Medal of Honor . On June 2 in a ceremony at the White House Private Henry Lincoln Johnson and 369th Infantry Regiment received the medal posthumously . World War II . No African American was awarded a Medal of Honor either during World War II or immediately afterwards with respect to their actions during that conflict . This changed in 1992 when a study conducted by Shaw University and commissioned by the U . S . Dept . of Defense and the United States Army asserted that systematic racial discrimination had been present in the criteria for awarding medals during the war . After an exhaustive review of files the study recommended that several of the Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to African Americans be upgraded to the Medal of Honor . On January 13 , 1997 , more than fifty years after the end of the war , President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal to seven African American World War II veterans . Vernon Baker was the only living recipient — the other six men had been killed in action or died in the intervening years . Korean War . Two African Americans received the Medal of Honor for action in the Korean War , both were soldiers of the 24th Infantry Regiment . Despite a 1948 Executive Order commanding the integration of the military , segregated units persisted until 1954 ; the 24th Infantry was one of the last remaining all - black regiments , and these two men were the last African Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for actions while serving in a segregated unit . Vietnam War . Twenty African Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in the Vietnam War , including James Anderson , Jr . , the first African American Marine to receive the Medal . Peacetime . Before World War II , the Medal of Honor could be awarded for actions not involving direct combat with the enemy ; eight African Americans earned the Medal in this way , all of them sailors . Robert Augustus Sweeney received two peacetime Medals of Honor , one of only nineteen men , and the only African American , to be awarded the medal twice . Most of the non - combat medals , including both of Sweeney ' s , were awarded for rescuing or attempting to rescue someone from drowning .