Washington (special) -- A Florida congressman believes the uncle for whom rock singer Lenny Kravitz was named deserved to be awarded a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism during the Korean War, but instead received a lesser medal because of anti-Semitism in the U.S. military.

Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., has been gathering support for a bill he has titled the "Leonard Kravitz Jewish War Veterans Act of 2001." Introduced with the bipartisan support of Reps. Benjamin Gilman (R N.Y.), Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), the measure recently gained the support of two Jewish members of Congress from San Diego, Susan Davis and Bob Filner.

Wexler's bill, H. R. 606, follows a precedent established in 1996, when Congress directed the military to review the exploits of Asian-American military heroes who might have been unfairly denied Congressional Medals of Honor. That legislation resulted in 21 Asian-Americans being granted the nation's highest military award. In 1997 similar legislation affecting African-American veterans led to the awarding of seven more Medals of Honor.

The congressman and his colleagues also have cited the cases of Korean War Army Cpl. Tibor Rubin and World War II Army Capt. Artie Klein and Army Sgt. Raymond Groden as other examples of Jews who may have been unfairly bypassed. 

If the legislation becomes law, the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force would be required to review the records of all Jewish war veterans who received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross or the Air Force Cross to determine whether the Congressional Medals of Honor were warranted. The Jewish War Veterans organization would be authorized to submit additional names for consideration.

The citation which awarded Private First Class Kravitz the Distinguished Service Cross told of his bravery on March 6, 1951 near Yangpyong, Korea, following two previous attacks by regular troops of the Chinese Army. "(T)he enemy launched a fanatical banzai charge with heavy supporting fire... When the machine gunner was wounded in the initial phase of action, Private Kravitz immediately seized the weapon and poured devastating fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants...

"Upon order to withdraw, Private Kravitz voluntarily remained to provide protective fire for the retiring elements. Traversing the gun to the left to cover the infiltrating enemy and ignoring the pleadings of his comrades to fall back, he fearlessly maintained his position. Detecting a column of Communist troops moving toward friendly positions, he swept the hostile soldiers with deadly accurate fire, killing the entire group. His destructive retaliation caused the enemy to concentrate vicious fire on his position and enabled the friendly elements to effect a withdrawal."

American forces subsequently retook the ground where Kravitz had made his stand. Kravitz, 20, was found dead next to his gun. According to the citation, "numerous enemy dead lay in and around his emplacement."

Noting that none of the 136 Congressional Medals of Honor conferred upon Korean War veterans was awarded to a Jew, Wexler postulated that anti Semitism played a role.

Wexler said that Kravitz deserved the Congressional Medal of Honor and so did Private First Class William Thompson who also served as a machine gunner during the Korean War. Thompson received the medal; what has precluded Kravitz from being honored similarly is the fact that he was a Jew, according to the congressman.

Thompson's citation said that on Aug. 6, 1950, near Haman, Korea, "while his platoon was reorganizing under cover of darkness, fanatical enemy forces in overwhelming strength launched a surprise attack on the unit. Pfc Thompson set up his machine gun in the path of the onslaught and swept the enemy with withering fire, pinning them down momentarily, thus permitting the remainder of his platoon to withdraw to a more tenable position. Although hit repeatedly by grenade fragments and small arms fire, he resisted all efforts of his comrades to induce him to withdraw, (and) steadfastly remained at his machine gun and continued to deliver deadly, accurate fire until mortally wounded by an enemy grenade."

Another Korean War veteran whose record is proposed for review is Hungarian native Tibor Rubin, who had immigrated to the United States following imprisonment by the nazis in a World War II concentration camp. Grateful to his new country, Rubin volunteered for the Korean War and was captured while defending a hill by throwing down hand grenades at the enemy, permitting the rest of his platoon to escape. As a POW, he continued to risk death nearly nightly by stealing food from commissary supplies to give to his comrades. He even jumped into a latrine to retrieve maggots to eat the gangrene that infested the wounds of fellow prisoners.

Reaching back to World War II, Wexler told of the record of Sgt. Groden, who was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross based on his exploits Dec. 2, 1944, near Kogenheim, France. According to that citation, "Sergeant Groden charged a formidable roadblock, defended by three machine guns, and, at fifteen yards range, knocked out two guns and killed three of the enemy with M-1 rifle fire. Assaulting an enemy CP ( Command Post) he advanced through blistering automatic fire, which pierced his raincoat, entrenching tool cover and bandolier, to kill four Germans. Shattering another machine gun position and capturing four mortars, Sergeant Groden and his fellow scouts killed twelve of the enemy, captured two, disintegrated all hostile resistance and seized the Battalion objective."

The congressman also repeated the story of OMAK -- "One Man Army Klein." In 1981, a fellow veteran, Edmund G. Love, wrote this account of Capt. Artie Klein's World War II exploits against Japanese forces at the Battle of Eniwetok:

"Landing with his platoon in a trailing wave, Klein immediately took charge. He walked or crept from one end of the beach to the other, through the heavy enemy fire, putting squads and platoons and companies back together again, finding the leaders and then leading the reorganized groups in attacks that wiped out the nearest and most menacing enemy positions. In the first two hours, Klein's platoon sergeant, his radio operator and his runner were killed within inches of him, but he kept moving about without regard to what was liable to happen to him. He brought order out of chaos on that beach, but more important, his calmness and courage marked his men." Klein died in the later World War II Battle of Okinawa.

"There is absolutely no justification for discrimination of any kind when we honor America's heroes," Wexler has said. "I am hopeful that the Leonard Kravitz Jewish War Veterans Act of 2001 will finally recognize those Jewish veterans, like Leonard Kravitz, whose noble actions clearly warrant the recognition of the Congressional Medal of Honor."