Lester W. Weber

He fought at close quarters to protect his squad from attack

Lester William Weber was born at Aurora, Illinois, on 30 July 1948. He attended St Isaac Jogues School at Hinsdale and spent two years at Hinsdale Central High School. He joined the Marine Corps Reserve in September 1966 and entered the Regular Marine Corps in January 1967.

Following recruit training at San Diego and infantry and weapons training at Camp Pendleton, he went to Vietnam in July 1967. He served in the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, initially as an ammunition carrier and subsequently as a squad leader. He became a lance corporal in November 1967. After completing the normal overseas tour, he volunteered to remain for an additional six months.

On 23 February 1969, his platoon was searching near Bo Ban in Quang Nam Province when a concealed enemy force opened fire. Weber moved forward to assist an engaged squad. In close fighting he attacked enemy positions with his rifle, grenades and bare hands. His assaults killed four opponents and disrupted the positions threatening the Marines. He continued toward another enemy soldier despite the concentrated fire and was mortally wounded.

The attack created room for his comrades to regain the initiative. His Medal of Honor recognised both his repeated exposure to fire and his efforts to protect the men around him. President Richard Nixon presented the decoration to his parents at the White House on 16 February 1971.

Weber was buried in Clarendon Hills Cemetery at Darien, Illinois. His official Marine Corps biography records the Purple Heart and campaign awards accompanying his posthumous decoration. He was twenty when he died, after voluntarily extending the service that had taken him from Illinois to an infantry squad in Vietnam.

Official citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machinegun squad leader with Company M, in action against the enemy. The 2d Platoon of Company M was dispatched to the Bo Ban area of Hieu Duc District to assist a squad from another platoon which had become heavily engaged with a well entrenched enemy battalion. While moving through a rice paddy covered with tall grass L/Corporal. Weber's platoon came under heavy attack from concealed hostile soldiers. He reacted by plunging into the tall grass, successfully attacking 1 enemy and forcing 11 others to break contact. Upon encountering a second North Vietnamese Army soldier he overwhelmed him in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Observing 2 other soldiers firing upon his comrades from behind a dike, L/Corporal. Weber ignored the frenzied firing of the enemy and racing across the hazardous area, dived into their position. He neutralized the position by wrestling weapons from the hands of the 2 soldiers and overcoming them. Although by now the target for concentrated fire from hostile riflemen, L/Corporal. Weber remained in a dangerously exposed position to shout words of encouragement to his emboldened companions. As he moved forward to attack a fifth enemy soldier, he was mortally wounded. L/Corporal. Weber's indomitable courage, aggressive fighting spirit and unwavering devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.