John James Kedenburg

He gave his rescue sling away and stayed to protect his team

John James Kedenburg was born in Brooklyn on 31 July 1946 and grew up on Long Island. He entered the Army on 25 January 1966. Training took him through basic and specialist courses at Fort Gordon, airborne instruction at Fort Benning and Special Forces preparation at Fort Bragg. His early qualification was in combat engineering, followed by further specialist instruction at Fort Belvoir.

He served with the 7th Special Forces Group before going to Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces Group in 1967. By 1968 he was a specialist fifth class working with reconnaissance forces associated with the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group. These small teams operated in dangerous border areas and depended heavily on concealment, radio contact and helicopter extraction.

On 13 June 1968, Kedenburg's team encountered a much larger enemy force near the Vietnamese-Laotian border. He helped establish a defensive position and directed air support while arranging a withdrawal to an extraction point. As the team pulled back, he remained with the rear guard and fought off attacks that threatened to overrun them.

Helicopters began lifting the survivors with extraction slings. Kedenburg was about to leave when a missing Vietnamese team member reached the position. He gave the man his place and remained on the ground to provide covering fire. He was last seen fighting at close range and was killed during the operation. His official service history records his death on 14 June.

The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously for his decision to surrender his own chance of escape and protect his comrades. His parents received the decoration at the White House on 7 April 1970. He was buried at Long Island National Cemetery. The reconnaissance organization in which he had served later received the Army Presidential Unit Citation for its wartime operations.