Medal of Honor: Hector Santiago-Colón – Vietnam War, June 28, 1968

Hector Santiago-Colón
Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army
Conflict: Vietnam War
Unit: Company B, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)
Date of Action: June 28, 1968
Location: Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam

Summary of Action:
Born in Salinas, Puerto Rico, and raised in New York City, Hector Santiago-Colón brought with him a quiet pride and a fierce sense of duty when he entered the U.S. Army. On the night of June 28, 1968, in the thick jungles of Quang Tri Province, that sense of duty would shine through in an act of pure heroism.

Assigned as a mortar gunner and perimeter sentry, Santiago-Colón detected suspicious movement in the dense, blacked-out jungle just outside his company’s position. He immediately warned nearby sentries to take cover and remain alert. Moments later, a storm of enemy fire erupted from the darkness—muzzle flashes and tracer rounds cutting through the night as a North Vietnamese force launched a surprise assault.

Santiago-Colón and his fellow soldiers fought back with grenades, mines, and rifle fire. Amid the chaos and confusion, an enemy soldier managed to crawl undetected close to his foxhole and toss in a grenade. In that split second—the kind that defines eternity—Santiago-Colón made a decision few could comprehend: he grabbed the grenade, pulled it into his stomach, and turned his body to shield the others in the hole with him. The explosion that followed took his life, but spared theirs.

His selfless action saved the lives of his brothers-in-arms and gave them the strength to hold the line and drive the enemy back. Santiago-Colón's courage was total, his sacrifice absolute. His legacy endures in every soldier who dares to act for others, no matter the cost.

Medal of Honor Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Sp4c. Santiago-Colon distinguished himself at the cost of his life while serving as a gunner in the mortar platoon of Company B. While serving as a perimeter sentry, Sp4c. Santiago-Colon heard distinct movement in the heavily wooded area to his front and flanks. Immediately he alerted his fellow sentries in the area to move to their foxholes and remain alert for any enemy probing forces. From the wooded area around his position heavy enemy automatic weapons and small-arms fire suddenly broke out, but extreme darkness rendered difficult the precise location and identification of the hostile force. Only the muzzle flashes from enemy weapons indicated their position. Sp4c. Santiago-Colon and the other members of his position immediately began to repel the attackers, utilizing hand grenades, antipersonnel mines and small-arms fire.

Due to the heavy volume of enemy fire and exploding grenades around them, a North Vietnamese soldier was able to crawl, undetected, to their position. Suddenly, the enemy soldier lobbed a hand grenade into Sp4c. Santiago-Colon’s foxhole. Realizing that there was no time to throw the grenade out of his position, Sp4c. Santiago-Colon retrieved the grenade, tucked it into his stomach and, turning away from his comrades, absorbed the full impact of the blast. His heroic self-sacrifice saved the lives of those who occupied the foxhole with him, and provided them with the inspiration to continue fighting until they had forced the enemy to retreat from the perimeter.

By his gallantry at the cost of his life and in the highest traditions of the military service, Sp4c. Santiago-Colon has reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.