97 years later, Jewish veteran to receive posthumous Medal of Honor for World War I heroics

ST. LOUIS – Nearly a century after Sgt. William Shemin pulled wounded comrades to safety on a World War I battlefield, his heroism has finally earned the Jewish man the nation's highest service medal.

The White House announced Thursday that President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor to two World War I soldiers — Shemin and Army Pvt. Henry Johnson.

Shemin died in 1973. His daughter, Elsie Shemin-Roth of suburban St. Louis, will accept the medal in a ceremony at the White House on June 2.

Shemin-Roth worked for years to gather documents in support of her bid for the medal, which she felt was denied at the time because he was Jewish.