Glenn Harry English Jr.

Led an attack, then entered a burning carrier to rescue men.

Glenn Harry English Jr. was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on 23 April 1940 and spent part of his childhood in the Williamsburg area. His connection with the Blair County Children's Home was later remembered by that community. He joined the United States Army from Philadelphia in 1962 and became an infantry noncommissioned officer.

From 1962 to 1964, English served in Germany with the VII Corps Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Company. This placed his early service within the Army's developing reconnaissance organisation in Europe, before his later assignment to airborne infantry in Vietnam.

By September 1970 he was a staff sergeant serving with Company E, 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade, in South Vietnam.

On 7 September 1970, English was riding in the lead armored personnel carrier of a four-vehicle column in Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province. An enemy mine exploded ahead of the vehicle, forcing it off the road. Concealed attackers opened fire with automatic weapons and antitank grenades, repeatedly hitting the carrier and setting it alight.

English escaped, but his clothing was burning. Rather than stop to put out the flames, he rallied the men around him and led an assault against the entrenched ambushers. His immediate response broke the attack and prevented the destruction of his unit.

Afterward, he heard three wounded men calling from inside the burning carrier. Despite warnings that its ammunition and fuel might explode, he went back and climbed into the vehicle. As he lifted one man toward safety, the carrier exploded. English and the comrade he was trying to rescue were mortally wounded. He died that day, aged 30, and there was no later career.

English received the Medal of Honor posthumously. Vice President Gerald R. Ford presented it to his family at Blair House, Washington, on 8 August 1974. He is buried in the Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery, North Carolina. His name is recorded on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at panel 7 W, line 44.

Medal of Honor citation Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Phu My District, Republic of Vietnam, 7 September 1970. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born: 23 April 1940, Altoona, Pennsylvania.

S/Sgt. English was riding in the lead armored personnel carrier in a 4-vehicle column when an enemy mine exploded in front of his vehicle. As the vehicle swerved from the road, a concealed enemy force waiting in ambush opened fire with automatic weapons and anti-tank grenades, striking the vehicle several times and setting it on fire. S/Sgt. English escaped from the disabled vehicle and, without pausing to extinguish the flames on his clothing, rallied his stunned unit. He then led it in a vigorous assault, in the face of heavy enemy automatic weapons fire, on the entrenched enemy position. This prompt and courageous action routed the enemy and saved his unit from destruction. Following the assault, S/Sgt. English heard the cries of 3 men still trapped inside the vehicle. Paying no heed to warnings that the ammunition and fuel in the burning personnel carrier might explode at any moment, S/Sgt. English raced to the vehicle and climbed inside to rescue his wounded comrades. As he was lifting 1 of the men to safety, the vehicle exploded, mortally wounding him and the man he was attempting to save. By his extraordinary devotion to duty, indomitable courage, and utter disregard for his own safety, S/Sgt. English saved his unit from destruction and selflessly sacrificed his life in a brave attempt to save 3 comrades. S/Sgt. English's conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the cost of his life were an inspiration to his comrades and are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.