( CNN ) -- If not for the hue of their skin or their ethnicity , 24 soldiers who faced death in service to their nation would have received the most prestigious medals for their valor long ago . But they were born and fought in a time when such deeds were not always fairly acknowledged . On Tuesday , the U.S. government corrected the oversight . President Barack Obama honored 24 Army veterans with the Medal of Honor -- the country 's highest military award , given to American soldiers who display `` gallantry above and beyond the call of duty `` -- for their combat actions in Vietnam , Korea and World War II . `` No nation is perfect , but here ... we confront our imperfections and face a 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 , '' Obama said . Only three of the soldiers are alive to receive the recognition . The rest -- soldiers with last names including Garcia and Weinstein and Negron -- are dead . Of the 24 honored , 10 never came home . The body of one -- Cpl . Joe Baldonado -- has never been recovered , Obama said . For the few who survive , such as Melvin Morris , this day has been more than 40 years in the making . He was fresh-faced and 19 when he volunteered to go to Vietnam . In 1969 , the Army Green Beret `` charged into a hail of fire '' to save his injured comrades and retrieve the bodies of the fallen , even though he was shot several times and bleeding . The Army would later say his actions on the battlefield that day showed `` determination possessed by few men . '' `` The staff sergeant recovered a fallen comrade ... and took out several bunkers even after he was shot several times , '' Obama said . He was honored in 1970 with the Army 's Distinguished Service Cross award . Today , at age 72 , Morris -- who is African-American -- received his nation 's most esteemed military honor . `` It makes me very proud that they are going back and looking at records , '' Morris told CNN . But it was never about a medal for Morris , who joined the Army in 1959 . On September 17 , 1969 , he was on a search-and-destroy mission with his company when he learned the commander of another company nearby had been killed . `` Immediately it came to me that I had to recover his body , '' Morris said . `` ... Leave no man behind under any circumstance . '' Morris was shot three times -- in the chest , arm and left ring finger -- as he carried the casualties out of the line of fire . He was then trapped in the firefight . `` The only thing I could do is fight , to hope I could get out , '' he said . And fight he did . He was later evacuated from the battlefield . Less than a year later , he returned to duty in Vietnam where he would be decorated again for his actions in combat . There are others , too . Men like Santiago J. Erevia , a radiotelephone operator from Texas who in 1969 tended injured comrades in Vietnam 's Quang Tin province when his position came under attack . According to the citation , Erevia took out three machine gun bunkers with grenades and gunfire . He then returned to care for his wounded comrades , crawling from one wounded man to another to administer aid . And there were men like Jose Rodela , who , while commanding a mobile strike force in Vietnam 's Phuoc Long province , `` was wounded in the back and head by rocket shrapnel while recovering a wounded comrade , '' according to a military commendation . Still he single-handedly assaulted and knocked out a mortar position before returning to lead his men . Morris , Rodela and Erevia wore Army uniforms as they accepted the medal , which was placed around their neck by Obama . `` In the thick of the fight all those years ago , for your comrades and your country , you refused to yield , '' the President said . In 2002 Congress -- as part of the Defense Authorization Act -- set up a review of Jewish and Hispanic veterans who had served in combat since the middle of the century `` to ensure those deserving the Medal of Honor were not denied because of prejudice , '' explained the White House . The congressional action was later amended to open the door for any serviceman or woman denied the award due to discrimination . One of those who posthumously received the award is Leonard Kravitz , an assistant machine gunner in the Korean War . He is the uncle and namesake of actor and rock musician Lenny Kravitz . CNN 's Barbara Starr and Greg Botelho contributed to this report .
NEW : `` The only thing I could do is fight , '' honoree Melvin Morris tells CNN . President Barack Obama honors 24 veterans with the Medal of Honor . White House says they were passed over for the top medal because of discrimination . Only three of them are still alive ; they served in WWII , Korea and Vietnam .