Leslie Halasz Sabo Jr.

Protected a wounded comrade, then destroyed an enemy bunker.

Leslie Halasz Sabo Jr. was born in Austria on 23 February 1948 to a Hungarian family that had fled Soviet domination. His family emigrated to the United States when he was a small child and settled in western Pennsylvania. He attended Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, briefly studied at Youngstown State University and worked in a steel mill before being drafted into the Army in April 1969. He married Rose Mary Buccelli before deploying to Vietnam that November.

Sabo served as a rifleman with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On 10 May 1970, during operations near Se San in Cambodia, his unit was caught in an enemy ambush. He assaulted an enemy position and then moved through heavy fire to assist a wounded soldier. When a grenade landed nearby, Sabo threw it away and placed himself over his comrade as the explosion wounded him.

He continued distributing ammunition and firing at the enemy while helicopters attempted to evacuate casualties. With an enemy bunker threatening the recovery effort, he crawled toward it, drawing hostile fire away from others. He threw a grenade into the position and destroyed it, losing his own life in the explosion. His actions protected wounded men and helped others escape the ambush.

Sabo was twenty-two. His family initially received an incomplete account of his death and did not know that he had been recommended for the Medal of Honor. Veterans and researchers later recovered the history of the action and revived the recommendation. President Barack Obama presented the medal to his widow on 16 May 2012, forty-two years after his death. His service is commemorated in Ellwood City and at Fort Campbell.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Specialist Four Leslie H. Sabo Jr. distinguished himself by conspicuous acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty at the cost of his own life while serving as a rifleman in Company B, 3d Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division in Se San, Cambodia, on May 10, 1970. On that day, Specialist Four Sabo and his platoon were conducting a reconnaissance patrol when they were ambushed from all sides by a large enemy force.

Without hesitation, Specialist Four Sabo charged an enemy position, killing several enemy soldiers. Immediately thereafter, he assaulted an enemy flanking force, successfully drawing their fire away from friendly soldiers and ultimately forcing the enemy to retreat. In order to re-supply ammunition, he sprinted across an open field to a wounded comrade. As he began to reload, an enemy grenade landed nearby.

Specialist Four Sabo picked it up, threw it, and shielded his comrade with his own body, thus absorbing the brunt of the blast and saving his comrade's life. Seriously wounded by the blast, Specialist Four Sabo nonetheless retained the initiative and then single-handedly charged an enemy bunker that had inflicted severe damage on the platoon, receiving several serious wounds from automatic weapons fire in the process.

Now mortally injured, he crawled towards the enemy emplacement and, when in position, threw a grenade into the bunker. The resulting explosion silenced the enemy fire, but also ended Specialist Four Sabo's life. His indomitable courage and complete disregard for his own safety saved the lives of many of his platoon members.

Specialist Four Sabo's extraordinary heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty, at the cost of his life, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company B, 3d Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, and the United States Army.