[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 1, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING MITCHELL LIBMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. THEODORE E. DEUTCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2014

  Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mitchell Libman of 
Hollywood, Florida, who for more than five decades worked to ensure a 
dear friend received the recognition he deserved for his heroism and 
sacrifice during the Korean War.
  In 1951, Mr. Libman learned that his childhood friend, Private First 
Class Leonard Kravitz, lost his life during combat and received the 
Distinguished Service Cross for his service. After hearing about 
Private Kravitz's heroics from some of the soldiers who fought by his 
side in Korea, he was inspired to dig deeper into the circumstances of 
his death.
  Mr. Libman found that his friend's service was indeed extraordinary. 
During an ambush of Communist forces, Private First Class Leonard 
Kravitz sacrificed his own life when he took over a machine gun so that 
his platoon could retreat to safety. It became clear that Private 
Kravitz's heroism qualified him for the Medal of Honor and yet he never 
received one. During his years of research, Mr. Libman began to suspect 
that Private Kravitz could have been bypassed for the Medal of Honor 
due to possible prejudice in the military against his Jewish heritage. 
He decided to take the issue to Washington.
  As a result of Mr. Libman's heartfelt advocacy, Congress passed an 
amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 requiring 
the Pentagon to undergo a review and determine if Jewish and Hispanic 
Americans serving in our Armed Forces could have been overlooked for 
the Medal of Honor due to bias in the military.
  The Pentagon's review did more than confirm that Private First Class 
Leonard Kravitz indeed fit the criteria for the Medal of Honor. It also 
revealed 23 additional cases of soldiers who went above and beyond the 
call of duty and yet never received the Medal of Honor for their 
extraordinary service. Last fall, I was pleased to pass H.R. 3304, an 
amended version of the National Defense Authorization Act ensuring that 
every soldier discovered during this review to be worthy of the Medal 
of Honor would finally be recognized.
  On March 18, 2014, Mr. Libman's decades of work culminated in 
President Barack Obama awarding all 24 soldiers with the Medal of 
Honor. Seeing the President finally issue these long overdue awards 
should remind us all of the power every American citizen has to make a 
difference, and I am profoundly grateful for Mitchell Libman's years of 
determination and love of country.

                          ____________________