Alejandro Renteria Ruiz

Master Sergeant Alejandro Renteria Ruiz was a United States Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient whose military career extended from the Second World War through the Korean War and into the early 1960s. He is best remembered for an extraordinary one-man assault against a fortified Japanese position on Okinawa on 28 April 1945, an action that broke a deadly enemy strongpoint and saved the lives of fellow soldiers.

Ruiz was born on 26 April 1924 in Loving, New Mexico, and was raised in southern New Mexico. DVIDS records that he was the son of a Mexican immigrant and that his father had earlier served as an officer in Pancho Villa’s army. As a young man Ruiz worked for a cattle farmer near Carlsbad. He later told the story that an incident involving a cow he was supposed to deliver resulted in his being offered a choice between legal trouble and Army service; he chose the Army, beginning what would become a twenty-year military career.

He entered the United States Army in 1944 and was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 165th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The 165th Infantry was the wartime federal designation of New York’s historic 69th Infantry Regiment, popularly known as the “Fighting 69th.” Ruiz’s association with the regiment became a central part of his military identity and remained important to both him and the unit for the rest of his life.

By April 1945, Ruiz was serving as a Private First Class during the Battle of Okinawa. The 165th Infantry had landed on Okinawa on 9 April 1945 and was engaged in reducing a complex network of Japanese defensive positions. On 28 April, Ruiz’s unit was operating near the village of Gasukuma, where Japanese troops occupied concealed and fortified positions along steep ridges.

During the advance, Ruiz’s squad was suddenly caught in a ravine under intense machine-gun fire and grenade attack from a carefully camouflaged Japanese pillbox. The position effectively stopped the American advance. According to his official Medal of Honor citation, Ruiz acted on his own initiative. He seized an automatic rifle and charged directly toward the emplacement through enemy rifle fire, machine-gun bursts and exploding grenades.

As he reached the position, a Japanese soldier rushed him. At the same moment, Ruiz’s automatic rifle jammed. Instead of abandoning the attack, he used the disabled weapon as a club and struck down his attacker. With his first weapon no longer functioning, Ruiz then crossed the same exposed ground back toward his squad while still under fire.

He obtained another automatic rifle and additional ammunition and immediately began a second assault.

By this point, enemy fire was concentrated directly on him. Despite the volume of fire, Ruiz again reached the fortified position. DVIDS records that he was also wounded in the leg during the fighting, but continued his attack.

Ruiz climbed onto the top of the pillbox in full view of the defenders. Moving from one opening to another, he fired repeated bursts into the emplacement at extremely close range. His Medal of Honor citation credited him with killing twelve Japanese soldiers and completely destroying the position. The elimination of the pillbox allowed his unit to continue its advance and, according to the official citation, saved the lives of many of his comrades.

His actions on Okinawa resulted in the award of the Medal of Honor, the highest United States military decoration. The award was published in War Department General Orders No. 60, dated 26 June 1946.

Ruiz was personally presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman at the White House in June 1946. Sources differ on the exact presentation date—modern Medal of Honor, Army and congressional records give differing June dates—so describing the presentation simply as taking place in June 1946 is the safest formulation unless a definitive original White House schedule is obtained.

The Second World War did not mark the end of Ruiz’s military career. An official U.S. Army Naming Commission report records that he subsequently served in the occupation of Japan until 1946. He later continued Army service and returned to combat during the Korean War.

His Korean service is independently confirmed by U.S. Army/DVIDS reporting, which states that he had combat service in Korea during the 1950s. However, the surviving public biographical sources consulted do not provide enough individual award documentation to determine the precise number of Korean Service Medal campaign stars or his complete Korean-era medal entitlement. Those details should therefore be verified from his individual service and award records rather than inferred from the length or location of his service.

Ruiz remained in the Army for approximately two decades. Over the course of his career he advanced through the enlisted ranks and ultimately retired as a Master Sergeant in 1964. DVIDS and U.S. Army historical reporting both support his retirement at that rank and year.

His long service also creates questions concerning several additional decorations that have appeared in secondary or memorial sources. A Fold3 memorial, for example, has been cited as listing an Army Commendation Medal with one oak-leaf cluster, and his length of service raises possible entitlement questions concerning the Army Good Conduct Medal and other service awards. Those claims should not be converted into confirmed medal entries without individual discharge papers, award orders or another documented personal medal record. For the same reason, exact Korean campaign-star quantities and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal should remain subject to documentary verification rather than assumption.

Ruiz’s confirmed public record nevertheless establishes a distinguished military career spanning both the Second World War and the Korean War, including combat on Okinawa, occupation duty in Japan, later Korean service and eventual retirement as a senior noncommissioned officer.

After retirement, Ruiz lived for many years in Visalia, California, where a local park was later named in his honor. In his final years he lived at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, in Napa Valley. He continued to be associated with Medal of Honor events and with veterans of the 69th Infantry. The modern 69th Infantry regarded him as an enduring part of its regimental history, and his White House Medal of Honor presentation photograph was displayed at the regiment’s Lexington Avenue armory in New York City.

Ruiz was married twice. Contemporary obituary reporting identifies his wives as Eliza Martinez and Lilia Flores; both marriages ended in divorce. He had two children from his first marriage, Celia Ruiz and Alejandro Ruiz Jr., and at the time of his death was also survived by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He died in Yountville, California, in November 2009, aged 85, and was buried at the Veterans Home of California Cemetery in Yountville. There is a noteworthy discrepancy in published records over the exact date: the Congressional Medal of Honor Society gives 20 November 2009, the VA’s Veterans Legacy Memorial currently lists 19 November 2009, while DVIDS and a later Congressional Record entry give 23 November 2009. Because of this unresolved conflict, using “November 2009” in the biography is more defensible unless the original death certificate or cemetery register is obtained.

Ruiz remained deeply connected to the Fighting 69th tradition after his death. In January 2010, leaders of the New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry travelled to California to meet his family and pay tribute at his gravesite. They presented a wreath on behalf of the regiment’s veterans, emphasizing that Ruiz remained permanently associated with the unit’s history.

His legacy rests above all on the action at Okinawa on 28 April 1945. When a concealed Japanese position stopped his squad under devastating fire, Ruiz chose to attack alone. When his first weapon failed, he fought off an enemy soldier, returned through fire for another weapon, and attacked the position again. His second assault destroyed the pillbox and removed an obstacle that could have continued to inflict heavy casualties on his unit.

That moment of exceptional courage was followed by nearly two more decades of Army service. From a Private First Class on Okinawa to a Master Sergeant at retirement, Ruiz served through World War II, the occupation of Japan and the Korean War. His career combined one of the most dramatic individual acts recognized by the Medal of Honor with sustained service to the United States Army long after the action for which he became famous.