John Earl Warren Jr.

Covered a grenade with his body to save his fellow soldiers.

On 14 January 1969, First Lieutenant John Warren led a platoon of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, through a rubber plantation in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam. His men were advancing to reinforce another American unit when they encountered a fortified enemy position.

Warren directed an assault under intense fire and advanced to within six feet of a bunker. An enemy grenade landed among a small group of soldiers. He threw himself toward it, absorbing the explosion and saving three fellow soldiers. He was killed and received the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on 16 November 1946, Warren served as an Army infantry officer during the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon presented his Medal of Honor on 6 August 1970. His military decorations and original award documents are preserved in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.