Full military honours funeral at Rhyl in 1954. Medals: 1914-15 Star ... Awarded the “Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire†(MBE) LG.

It was not until Vietnam, however, that a Black soldier, Riley Pitts, earned both an officer’s commission and the Medal of Honor. Born in Fallis, Oklahoma, on Oct. 15, 1937, Riley Leroy Pitts ...

He spent most of 1972 on a dangerous assignment ... Cases of what might be called “forgotten valor” — military medals earned, but never awarded — are more common than one might expect.

Almost 82 years after he was killed in a strange accident while serving in New Guinea, Panola County’s most decorated soldier ...