For more than two decades I have had the honor and the pleasure to write a score of stories on those magnificent Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines who have distinguished themselves “through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty…”: Our Medal of Honor recipients.
True to the diversity that is America and reflective of the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, the recipients have been from every walk of life, creed, race, ethnicity, skin color, national origin or immigration status.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society has statistics on some of these recipients:
• 96 Black/African American.
• 60 Hispanic/Latino.
• 37 Asian/Pacific Islander.
• 32 Native/American Indian.
• 18 Jewish.
But perhaps most surprising is the fact that more than 760 Medal of Honor recipients – more than 20 percent of the 3,547 Medal of Honor recipients — are immigrants, foreign-born.
They were born in Scotland, Ireland, and England. In Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Hungary and Poland – even in Russia. In Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. In the former Yugoslavia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina. In India and Chile. They came from as close as Canada and Mexico and from as far as China and the Philippines.
In a 2018 Memorial Day story at the Washington Post — “They were immigrants — and real American heroes,” — David von Drehle writes about four immigrants who were awarded the Medal of Honor. He concludes with these memorable words, “The American story is not told on birth certificates. It’s written on hearts.”
Sadly, it has not always been this way.
Too many heroes belonging to so-called “minorities,” along with their survivors and their supporters, have had to struggle to correct insidious discrimination, prejudice, racial and constitutional bias.
Recently, thanks to studies and investigations, and because of pressure from numerous civic, military and Congressional groups and individuals, many have finally received the honors they fought for and – in too many cases – died for.
Several ceremonies have been held in recent years to award the Medal to large groups of servicemembers who had been denied honor in the past.
For example, on June 21, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to 22 Asian American heroes of World War II. “A significant recognition of the personal injustices faced by many Asian-American veterans during the war, including the internment of their families…”.
In a March 18, 2014, White House ceremony, President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans, most of them posthumously. Nineteen of the soldiers “had been “previously overlooked for the Medal of Honor due to their racial or ethnic backgrounds…”
They had names like Garcia, Morris and Weinstein — Hispanic, African American and Jewish soldiers from decades past who…had been denied the Medal of Honor because of their race, creed or color.
Less than two years later, on November 12, 2015, President Obama would once again conduct a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.
This time, there was only one recipient.
He was Captain Florent Groberg.
While assigned as a Personal Security Detachment Commander with the 4th Infantry Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Asadbad, Kunar Province, Afghanistan on August 8, 2012, Captain Groberg, in a split-second decision, tackled a suicide bomber, saving the lives of his comrades and several senior leaders, including Gen. James Mingus, now the vice chief of staff of the Army.
Groberg received several injuries, including severe damage to one of his legs and a traumatic brain injury. “He required 33 surgeries across three years of care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.”
Why do we single out Captain Groberg?
For two reasons.
First, Groberg is one of those 764 heroes born in a foreign country who have been awarded our nation’s highest honor. He was born in Poissy, France, the son of a French Algerian mother. He emigrated to the United States when he was 11 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2001. In 2008 he was commissioned as an infantry officer and deployed to Afghanistan twice.
Second, almost 10 years later he in the news again.
You see, on August 8, 2025, in an X post, the Army recognized the 13th anniversary of Groberg’s acts of heroism in Afghanistan.
Perhaps an indication that there are still vestiges of bias and prejudice, even when it comes to the bravest among us, far-right political activist and influencer Laura Loomer sharply criticized the Army. On X she wrote, “Are we supposed to believe the Army couldn’t find a Republican and US born soldier? They had to find an immigrant who voted for Hillary Clinton and spoke at the DNC as Obama’s guest?”
It may be a sign of hope that Loomer has received plenty of criticism from Defense officials, politicians, the military and veterans — from both sides of the aisle.
According to Military.com, one defense official said of Loomer’s statement, “It was disgraceful.”
A fellow Medal of Honor recipient, Dakota Meyer — who recently re-enlisted in the Marines — also took issue with Loomer.
Meyer wrote on X: “The Medal is [a-political.] The person wearing it doesn’t have to be. If anyone has earned the right to free speech or to have an opinion it’s a man who threw himself in front of a suicide bomber to save lives…”
Meyer was apparently referring to the fact that Groberg spoke for just over two minutes at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. A speech he began with, “I am here tonight not as a Democrat or a Republican. I’m here as a proud immigrant to this country, a proud veteran of the United States Army and proud recipient of our country’s highest military honor.”
MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was not as circumspect. In a post on X, she vigorously defended Groberg’s speech at the “Democrat” convention, writing, “Ask any veteran, military member, and American, no one cares about [Groberg’s] politics, the man was willing to die to save others from a suicide bomber.” She also simply writes, “Shut up Laura.”
Florent Groberg, now retired, responded on X as follows:
Thirteen years ago, today is my Alive Day, the day I nearly lost my life, and four of my brothers, including three Army leaders, never came home. I’ve served under presidents from both parties and will always honor my oath to this country. Yes, I spoke for 60 seconds at the DNC when asked about service and sacrifice, not politics. For me, [8 August] isn’t about parties. It’s about the lives we lost.
It may be a coincidence, but at the same time as this ruckus was happening, the Department of Defense (DoD) was honoring another foreign-born Medal of Honor recipient.
In its weekly feature story, “Medal of Honor Monday,” highlighting recipients of the nation’s highest medal for valor, DoD highlighted Sgt. James Mestrovitch, born in a part of Yugoslavia now known as Montenegro.
As a teenager, Mestrovitch immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1910s and joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in June 1916. The following year, when the U.S. entered World War II, Mestrovitch was assigned to the 111th Infantry Regiment.
In May 1918, he deployed with the American Expeditionary Forces to join the fighting in Europe, where his heroic actions would lead to the posthumous award of the Medal of Honor.
Please read the details of the heroic actions of this “foreign-born” here.
While more than 760 immigrants have been awarded the nation’s highest military honor, one should not forget that, since the founding of our country, hundreds of thousands — perhaps more than a million — of foreign-born men and women have served in our Armed Forces, fighting and dying in every war and conflict in American history.
FWD.us estimates that about 45,000 immigrants are presently serving in the U.S. military and that approximately 700,000 foreign-born veterans, many of whom are now U.S. citizens, live in the U.S. today.
True, “The American story is not told on birth certificates. It’s written on hearts.”
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References:
“Immigrants and the Military.”
“Medal of Honor for a Black World War I Hero?”
“Medal of Honor Tuesday: Army Sgt. Joe Hayashi.”
“The Medal of Honor: For Some an Honor too Far.”
“Honoring American Indian and Alaska Native Military.”
“Remembering and Honoring 18 Jewish Medal of Honor Recipients.”
“Memorial Day: ‘The American Story Is Not Told on Birth Certificates…’”
“Awarding the Medal of Honor to Marine Sgt. Peralta Is “Preserving the Integrity of the Process”
