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奥巴马为少数族裔退伍军人授勋

President Barack Obama has recognized 24 ethnic¹ or minority veterans with the Medal of Honor for combat bravery after years of being bypassed due to prejudice. The service of the Hispanic, Jewish and African-American soldiers spanned three wars - from the World War II to Korea and Vietnam.

美国总统奥巴马为24名少数族裔退伍军人颁发荣誉勋章，表彰他们在战斗中的英勇表现。此前很多年，这些人都因歧视而被排除在美军最高荣誉之外。24人当中，多数是拉美裔、犹太和非洲裔美国军人，分别参加过二次大战、韩战及越战等战争。

Of the honorees, only three were alive to receive their medals. Vietnam veterans Jose Rodela, Melvin Morris and Santiago Erevia attended the ceremony and were commended for bravery on the battlefield.

获颁荣誉勋章的24人中，只有3人仍在世，并出席了颁奖仪式。他们是越战退伍军人罗德拉、莫里斯和埃雷维亚。

"It's unimaginable the valor² that they displayed. Running into bullets, charging machine gun nests, and climbing aboard tanks and taking them out. Covering their comrades so they could make it to safety. Holding back enemies, wave after wave, even when the combat was hand-to-hand. Manning their post, some to their very last breaths, so that their comrades might live," said Obama.

奥巴马总统说：“他们展现了令人难以想象的勇气。他们冒着枪林弹雨，爬上坦克，把坦克摧毁。他们掩护战友，让战友得以安全隐蔽。他们击退敌人一次又一次的攻击，有时甚至短兵相接。为了把生的机会留给战友，他们坚守阵地，有些人战斗到最后一口气。”

The veterans were honored after a congressionally mandated³ review of thousands of war records of ethnic or minority service personnel in 2002 in an effort, as Obama said, "to make sure the heroism⁴ of veterans did not go overlooked due to discrimination."

国会2002年授权复查成千上万份少数族裔美国人的参战记录，如奥巴马所说，这是为了确保退伍军人的英雄主义不因歧视而遭忽视。24人获得授勋就是这次复查的结果。

"No nation is perfect. But here in America we confront our imperfections and face the sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal," said Obama.

奥巴马说：“没有任何国家是十全十美的。但在美国，我们能正视我们的不完美，面对有时是痛苦的过去，包括我们曾经不平等地对待这些为美国战斗和牺牲的战士。”

Many of the recipients⁵ had received the Distinguished⁶ Service Cross, but because of prejudice had not been offered the Medal of Honor. Pam Elbe, an archivist with the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, said one of the posthumous⁷ recipients, Leonard Kravitz, a Korean War veteran credited with saving his comrades during battle, was long deserving of the medal.

这次获得授勋的人中，很多人曾经得到过“杰出服役十字勋章”，但由于歧视而没有被授予美军最高军事奖章“荣誉勋章”。美国犹太军事史国家博物馆档案保管员埃尔伯说，这次因在战斗中拯救战友而被追授荣誉勋章的克拉维茨是韩战退伍军人，他早就应当获得这枚奖章了。

"I think at least in the Jewish community there’s always been a feeling that some people were maybe overlooked because they were Jewish - Leonard Kravitz being a good example.  People have always felt that what he did deserved the Medal of Honor - not just the Distinguished Service Cross," said Elbe.

“我想，至少在犹太人社区，总有这么一种感觉，就是一些人由于身为犹太人而被忽视了。克拉维茨是一个很好的例子。人们一直认为他的表现完全应当得到荣誉勋章，而不仅仅是杰出服役十字勋章。”

Elbe said that although discrimination was not an official part of U.S. military practice, many soldiers were overlooked for either religious or racial reasons.

埃尔伯说，尽管美国军队从未明文规定歧视少数族裔，但很多战士确实是基于宗教或种族原因而遭到忽视。

"Unfortunately in the military, if your commander is an anti-Semite or prejudiced in some other way, you might be overlooked for something or given jobs you don’t want to do - so it’s just a general microcosm of society," said Elbe.

“不幸的是，在军队里，假如你的指挥官是反犹主义者或带有其他什么偏见，你就可能被忽视，或者被分配去做你不愿意做的工作。军队是整个社会的一个缩影。”

This was the single largest group of service members to be awarded the Medal of Honor since World War II.  The medal has been awarded to more than 3,000 U.S. soldiers since 1863.

这是二战以来同时获得授勋人数最多的一次。1863年至今，共有3千多名美军战士被授予荣誉勋章。