Marine Medals | Marine Medals | LCpl Jose F. Jimenez

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Fire Team Leader with Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division in operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam on 28 August 1969. On that date Lance Corporal Jimenez' unit came under heavy attack by North Vietnamese Army soldiers concealed in well-camouflaged emplacements. Lance Corporal Jimenez reacted by seizing the initiative and plunging forward toward the enemy positions. He personally destroyed several enemy personnel and silenced an antiaircraft weapon. Shouting encouragement to his companions, Lance Corporal Jimenez continued his aggressive forward movement. He slowly maneuvered to within ten feet of hostile soldiers who were firing automatic weapons from a trench and, in the face of vicious enemy fire, destroyed the position. Although he was by now the target of concentrated fire from hostile gunners intent upon halting his assault, Lance Corporal Jimenez continued to press forward. As he moved to attack another enemy soldier, he was mortally wounded. Lance Corporal Jimenez' indomitable courage, aggressive fighting spirit and unfaltering devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Jose Francisco Jimenez, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam in August 1969, was born 20 March 1946, in Mexico City, Mexico. He attended Bonito Juarez School and Jose Maria Morelos School in Morelia, Mexico. He graduated from Red Rock Elementary School, Red Rock, Arizona, in June 1964, and from Santa Cruz Valley Union High School, Eloy, Arizona, in June 1968.

Enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Phoenix, Arizona, on 7 June 1968, he was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps, 12 August 1968.

Private Jimenez completed recruit training with the 1st Recruit Training Battalion at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California, in October 1968. He was promoted to private first class, 1 October 1968.

Transferred to the Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California, he underwent individual combat training with Company G, 1st Battalion, 2d Infantry Training Regiment and with the Rifle Training Company of the 2d Infantry Training Regiment, completing the latter in December 1968.

Ordered to the Republic of Vietnam in February 1969, he was assigned duty as a guide and fire team leader with Company K, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was promoted to lance corporal, 16 June 1969.

While participating in action against the enemy south of DaNang, Quang Nam Province, on 28 August 1969, he was killed in action.

His medals and decorations include: the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars, the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.