Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring the late Johnnie Johnson

Frances Johnson, widow of the late jazz and blues pianist Johnnie Johnson, listens as U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill makes her remarks before awarding Johnson the Congressional Gold Medal, at the National Blues Museum in St. Louis on November 28, 2016. Johnson, who lived in St. Louis, was a Montford Point Marine, the African-American Marines unit who endured racism and inspired social change while integrating the previously all-white Marine Corps during World War II. After his service, Johnson had a long musical career culminating with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI