{"id":49000,"date":"2022-05-08T15:33:43","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T15:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/05\/08\/wwi-navy-hero-may-get-medal-of-honor-52-years-after-death\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:55:42","slug":"wwi-navy-hero-may-get-medal-of-honor-52-years-after-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2022\/05\/08\/wwi-navy-hero-may-get-medal-of-honor-52-years-after-death\/","title":{"rendered":"WWI Navy hero may get Medal of Honor 52 years after death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MELBOURNE, Fla. \u2014 Frederick Riefkohl<\/a> was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. A World War I hero who led a successful showdown with a German submarine. And a World War II ship commander who retired as a rear admiral \u2014 he even has his own Wikipedia page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Riefkohl did not receive the Medal of Honor, America\u2019s highest award for valor in combat, to commemorate his WWI gallantry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? The former Merritt Island resident may have been unfairly discriminated against by military brass because of his island heritage, a team of Great War researchers says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riefkohl is one of 214 WWI minority veterans identified thus far by the Valor Medals Review Project<\/a>, a Congress-authorized study spearheaded by Park University near Kansas City, Missouri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Park University officials say this is the first such systematic review of minority veterans of the Great War. Research will continue until 2025, when documentation supporting Medal of Honor nominations will be forwarded to the Department of Defense for possible action, including posthumous awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riefkohl was \u2018an American patriot\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Riefkohl is the lone Puerto Rican on the list of 214 troops, said Timothy Westcott, director of the private university\u2019s George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a lieutenant and commander of the armed guard of the cruiser USS Philadelphia, Riefkohl was awarded the Navy Cross after an engagement with an enemy submarine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Frederick Lois Riefkohl in 1911 (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn 2 August 1917, a periscope was sighted, and then a torpedo passed under the stern of the ship. A shot was fired, which struck close to the submarine, which then disappeared,\u201d Riefkohl\u2019s Navy Cross citation said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few additional details on the WWI incident have been unearthed from the historical record, said Ashlyn Weber, Robb Centre associate director. The Valor Medals Review Project has identified this as a potential Medal of Honor-worthy action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donn Weaver, who chairs the Brevard Veterans Council, labeled Riefkohl \u201can American patriot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA problem is that not enough documentation was done because they were not viewed as fully deserving at that time \u2014 and that\u2019s absurd,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, a huge example was Melvin Morris<\/a> when he was awarded \u2014 what was it, 30 years later, 40 years later? \u2014 the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Vietnam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll veterans \u2014 regardless of their race, color or creed \u2014 do service and sacrifice. And all need to be recognized \u2014 without reference to their race, color or creed \u2014 for that service and sacrifice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melvin Morris waited for 44 years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Morris, a Black retired Army sergeant first class who lives in Port St. John, waited more than 44 years to receive his Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in September 1969, Morris charged into machine-gun fire and destroyed four enemy bunkers with hand grenades while retrieving the body of a fallen team commander near Chi Lang. He was shot three times in the process, but he survived.<\/p>\n\n\n\t