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Lenny Kravitz’s Hero Uncle and Other Lesser Known American Heroes

Khalid Elhassan August 18, 2020 35 min

American Revolutionary War - United States — The British surrender at Yorktown. Library of Congress

32. A Lifelong Quest Pays Off

PFC Leonard M. Kravitz’s niece, Laurie Wegner, receiving her uncle’s Medal of Honor from President Obama at the White House in 2014. Department of Defense

In May, 2012, President Obama called Mitch Libman at his home in Florida. The president informed him that Leonard M. Kravitz would finally get his Medal of Honor, along with 23 other hero veterans identified in the investigation kicked off by Libman’s efforts. When Obama asked how long he had been pursuing this, Libman replied that he had been at it for longer than the president had been alive.

Obama cautioned Libman that it would still take some time: “You know, this is not something we can do overnight. We can’t do it next week“. Libman came back pure Big Apple: “That’s fine, the week after would be great“. As Libman recalled Obama’s response: “He totally cracked up“. It did not happen the week after, but two years later. Libman, by then 83 years old, was present at the White House ceremony to witness his childhood friend posthumously receive what he had earned at the cost of his life.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.