Robert Charles Murray

Robert Charles Murray earned the Medal of Honor posthumously near Hiep Duc, South Vietnam, on June 7, 1970. A staff sergeant leading a squad in Company B, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, he was searching for an enemy mortar when a soldier triggered a grenade booby trap.

Raised in the Bronx, Murray graduated from Fordham Preparatory School in 1964 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1968. He entered Army service in 1969 and volunteered for Ranger combat training before his Vietnam infantry assignment.

Murray immediately covered the grenade with his body. The explosion killed him, but his sacrifice prevented death or injury to the other members of his squad.

Born in the Bronx, New York, on December 10, 1946, Murray received the medal posthumously. Vice President Gerald R. Ford presented it to his family at Blair House on August 8, 1974. He is buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

Medal of Honor citation

S/Sgt. Murray distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with Company B. S/Sgt. Murray's squad was searching for an enemy mortar that had been threatening friendly positions when a member of the squad tripped an enemy grenade rigged as a booby trap. Realizing that he had activated the enemy booby trap, the soldier shouted for everybody to take cover. Instantly assessing the danger to the men of his squad, S/Sgt. Murray unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own safety threw himself on the grenade absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion. By his gallant action and self sacrifice, he prevented the death or injury of the other members of his squad. S/Sgt. Murray's extraordinary courage and gallantry, at the cost of his life above and beyond the call to duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.