| Leonard M. Kravitz | |
| Birth Date: | 8 August 1930[1] |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Yangpyeong County, South Korea |
| Placeofburial: | Mount Carmel Cemetery, Queens, New York |
| Allegiance: | United States of America |
| Rank: | Private first class |
| Unit: | 3rd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division |
| Awards: | Medal of Honor Purple Heart |
| Relations: | Sy Kravitz (brother) Lenny Kravitz (nephew) Zoë Kravitz (great-niece) |
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.[2]
Leonard Kravitz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Jean (née Kaufman) and Joseph Kravitz.[2] [3]
Private Kravitz was the younger brother of filmmaker and TV producer Sy Kravitz[4] and uncle of popular musician Lenny Kravitz.[5]
On March 6/7, 1951, Kravitz's unit's positions at Jipyeong-ri were 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.[2] Kravitz was reported to have shouted, "Get the hell out of here while you can!" When American troops retook their positions, they found that Kravitz had killed a large number of enemy soldiers before dying in action.[6]
The award 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.[7] The re-examination of the Medal of Honor process was pursued for over half a century by Mitchel Libman, who had been Kravitz's childhood friend from Crown Heights, Brooklyn.[6] Libman's research led him to conclude that a number of Jewish recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross should have been nominated for the Medal of Honor instead. After decades of lobbying, Libman convinced Representative Robert Wexler to propose the "Leonard Kravitz Jewish War Veterans Act of 2001".[6] [8] [4] 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.[4] When the decision was made in 2012 to award the Medal of Honor to Kravitz, President Obama phoned Libman personally to inform him.[6]
| Combat Infantryman Badge | |||||||||||
| Medal of Honor | Purple Heart | ||||||||||
| Korean Service Medal w/ 1 bronze campaign star | United Nations Korea Medal | Korean War Service Medal | |||||||||