Medal of Honor Recipient Articles

Medal of Honor, Marvin R. Young – Vietnam War – August 21, 1968

Amid the chaos of Vietnam’s jungles, one young Texan made a last stand to save his brothers in arms. He fought with broken body and unyielding spirit, giving everything so others might live.

MOH

Medal of Honor, John Lucian Smith – World War II – August–September 1942

A lone Marine fighter squadron, outnumbered and outgunned, held the skies above Guadalcanal when everything hung in the balance. At its head was a quiet Oklahoman who became an American ace legend.

MOH

Medal of Honor, Charles Hazeltine Hammann, World War I, August 21, 1918

“Alone over the Adriatic, Ensign Charles Hammann risked his life to save a fellow aviator. Flying a seaplane not built to carry two men, he made a desperate landing under enemy threat and lifted his comrade to safety.”

MOH

Medal of Honor, Paul Ronald Lambers, Vietnam War, August 20, 1968

“When an entire Viet Cong battalion struck in the night, Sgt. Paul Ronald Lambers refused to yield. For five relentless hours, he fought, led, and inspired—turning certain defeat into victory and saving his platoon from annihilation.”

MOH

Medal of Honor, John D. Hawk, World War II, August 20, 1944

“Wounded and outgunned near Chambois, France, Sgt. John D. Hawk refused to yield. Using ingenuity, raw courage, and sheer defiance, he turned himself into a ‘human aiming stake’ for American tank destroyers, breaking the German counterattack"

MOH

Medal of Honor, Stephen W. Pless, Vietnam War, August 19, 1967

“When a group of downed American aviators was about to be executed on a hostile beach in Vietnam, Major Stephen W. Pless chose to act. Against impossible odds, he piloted his UH-1E Huey into a wall of enemy fire, landed under the guns of the enemy."

MOH

Medal of Honor, Frank R. Fratellenico, Vietnam War, August 19, 1970

“In the chaos of battle, when a live grenade slipped from his hand, Corporal Frank R. Fratellenico had only a split second to decide. Instead of saving himself, he threw his body upon the grenade—giving his life."