Joseph G. LaPointe Jr.

Joseph Guy LaPointe Jr. was born on July 2, 1948, in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in nearby Clayton. A quiet and deeply principled young man, he worked as a mail carrier after graduating from Northridge High School. He loved hiking and the outdoors and hoped eventually to work for the National Park Service. Shortly before entering military service, he married his high-school sweetheart, Cindy.

Drafted into the United States Army in 1968, LaPointe declared himself a conscientious objector. His convictions prevented him from carrying or using a weapon, but they did not prevent him from serving alongside soldiers in danger. Trained as a medical aidman, he volunteered for frontline duty and was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam.

LaPointe quickly earned a reputation for extraordinary courage and devotion to the wounded. On April 12, 1969, he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire while treating and evacuating casualties. His actions that day earned him the Silver Star.

On June 2, 1969, LaPointe was accompanying a patrol near Hill 376 in Quảng Tín Province when his unit encountered intense fire from a fortified enemy bunker. Two soldiers at the front of the patrol were seriously wounded and left exposed in the enemy’s line of fire.

Disregarding the danger, LaPointe ran forward and crawled directly toward the casualties. After reaching them, he began administering medical treatment while enemy fire continued to strike around their position. Unable to move the wounded men immediately, he placed his own body between them and the enemy, shielding them from the incoming rounds.

A burst of automatic-weapons fire struck and seriously wounded him. Despite his injuries, LaPointe continued treating his patients. He was struck by a second burst and knocked away from them, but again dragged himself back across the wounded soldiers to protect them with his body. Moments later, an enemy grenade exploded in their position, mortally wounding all three men.

Joseph G. LaPointe Jr. was twenty years old. He left behind his wife, Cindy, and an infant son, Joseph III, whom he never had the opportunity to meet.

For his conspicuous gallantry, complete disregard for his own safety and determination to protect the lives of his comrades, LaPointe was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His widow and son received the decoration on his behalf on December 16, 1971.

LaPointe was one of two conscientious objectors awarded the Medal of Honor for service during the Vietnam War and one of three recognized conscientious objectors in United States military history to receive the decoration. His unarmed courage embodied the highest calling of the combat medic: entering danger not to take life, but to save it.