Texans will be recognized.

In 2002, as part of the Defense Reauthorization Act, Congress decided to review records from World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam to find whether some Jewish and Hispanic soldiers may have earned Medals of Honor they did not receive. They found 24 soldiers, including Erevia, whose acts warranted the award.

“We’ve wondered why he didn’t receive it the first time, and thought it may have been because of his name,” Jesse Erevia, Sgt. Erevia’s son, told The Washington Post.

Many of the vets to be recognized are Hispanic, but reviewers also found African American and Jewish soldiers, as well as five servicemen whose ethnicity was uncertain, who had been overlooked for recognition. Due to a fire that destroyed many military records, officials often had torecreate soldiers’ military history through interviews with their fellow servicemen.

The veterans from Texas shared a penchant for selfless heroism.

Like Erevia, Sergeant First Class Jose Rodela also served in Vietnam. In 1969, he helped defend his unit from a vicious attack that wounded 42 of his comrades. He moved among the remaining soldiers, encouraging and even physically moving them to hold a defensive perimeter while exposing himself to enemy fire.

Rodela and Erevia are both still living today, and will travel to Washington on March 18th to receive their medals from President Obama. Only one other veteran among the 24, Melvin Morris from Oklahoma, is also still alive.

Three other Texans will receive the medal posthumously. Sergeant Candelario Garcia of Corsicana served in Vietnam, where he charged a machine gun bunker,