Leonard M. Kravitz

Leonard Martin Kravitz (August 8, 1930 – March 7, 1951) was an American soldier in the United States Army who served in the Korean War. He is a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Early life and family Leonard Kravitz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Jean (née Kaufman) and Joseph Kravitz. He was the younger brother of filmmaker and TV producer Sy Kravitz, and uncle of musician Lenny Kravitz.

Medal of Honor On March 6–7, 1951, the position of Kravitz's unit at Jipyeong-ri was attacked by the enemy. When a machinegunner was wounded, Kravitz replaced him, forcing the enemy to direct its efforts against him and helping his comrades to retreat after their positions were overrun.

Kravitz's niece Laurie Wegner accepting the Medal of Honor on her uncle's behalf from President Barack Obama in a March 18, 2014, White House ceremony. The award of the Medal of Honor was made as a result of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 which called for a review of Jewish American and Hispanic American veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to ensure that no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor. The re-examination of the Medal of Honor process was pursued for over 50 years by Mitchel Libman, who had been Kravitz's childhood friend from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The legislation was ultimately not adopted, but its consideration led Congress to direct the armed forces to re-examine past practices in selecting Medal of Honor recipients. When the decision was made in 2012 to award the Medal of Honor to Kravitz, President Barack Obama phoned Libman personally to inform him.

Medal of Honor citation

Awards and decorations alt=A metal device depicting a blue bar with a rifle, in front of a wreath of silver leaves.