U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) issued the following statement after the White House announced that Sergeant William Shemin will receive the Medal of Honor on June 2, 2015:

“After five years in the making, this is truly one of the proudest and most humbling moments I’ve had as a Member of Congress. Five years ago, my constituent, Elsie Shemin-Roth, came into my Washington, Mo. office wanting to tell her father’s story and see if we would be able to help – and I told her I would do everything I can to ensure her father receives the Medal of Honor. Now, at last, it is truly amazing that we are able to rightfully celebrate her father’s lasting legacy. Working with Elsie for the last few years has been a great pleasure and I am more than excited for June so she can come to the nation’s capital and be given the highest award for her father’s courageous and selfless acts of valor during World War I.”

Sergeant Shemin passed away in 1973, but his daughter, Shemin-Roth, a constituent of Luetkemeyer’s, has worked on behalf of her father’s military legacy. After meeting with Shemin-Roth, Luetkemeyer secured passage of language in the Fiscal Year 2012 NDAA that provides for reviews of the service records of Jewish World War I veterans who may not have received the awards they deserved for extraordinary acts of military service, due to discrimination at the time. Since then, the Pentagon has completed a review of Sergeant Shemin’s records connected to Sergeant Shemin’s service, and, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended the president should posthumously award Sergeant Shemin the Medal of Honor. After that announcement, Luetkemeyer continuously urged the administration to swiftly make a positive, final recommendation. On May 14, the president officially announced he would posthumously award Sergeant Shemin the Medal of Honor.