Wednesday, August 21, 1968 21 August 1968: PFC James Anderson, Jr., was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by Secretary of the Navy, Paul R. Ignatius, for heroism in Vietnam while serving as a rifleman with Company F, 2d Battalion, 3d Marines in February 1967. This was the first Medal of Honor presented to an African-American Marine. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Anderson, Sr., received the award during ceremonies at Marine Barracks, 8th and I. Print