Baldomero Lopez
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| Baldomero Lopez | |
|---|---|
| August 23, 1925 - September 15, 1950 | |
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| Place of birth | Tampa Bay, Florida |
| Place of death | Inchon, South Korea, KIA |
| Allegiance | USMC |
| Years of service | 1947-1950 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Unit | 5th Marine Regiment |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Inchon |
| Awards | Medal of Honor Purple Heart |
Baldomero Lopez (August 23, 1925—September 15, 1950) was a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for smothering a hand grenade with his own body during the Inchon Landing, on September 15, 1950.
Baldomero Lopez was born in Tampa Bay, Florida. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, and upon graduating June 6, 1947, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
He attended The Basic School at Quantico, Virginia, after which he became a platoon commander in the Platoon Leaders Class Training Regiment.
In 1948, 2dLt Lopez went to China, where he served as a mortar section commander and later as a rifle platoon commander at Tsingtao and Shanghai. On his return from China he was assigned to Camp Pendleton, California.
He was serving there when, shortly after the outbreak of the Korean war, he volunteered for duty as an infantry officer in Korea. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant on June 16, 1950.
Lopez was forever immortalized in a picture of him leading his men over the seawall at Inchon shortly before his death.
News of his heroic death spread quickly among fellow Marines on the battlefronts. A Scripps-Howard war correspondent, Jerry Thorp, said in a news story on 1stLt Lopez's deed that he "died with the courage that makes men great."
In addition to the Medal of Honor, 1stLt Lopez's decorations include the Purple Heart Medal, Presidential Unit Citation with one bronze star, China Service Medal, and Korean Service Medal with two bronze stars.
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[edit] Naval Ships
1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez (T-AK-3010) is one of the Military Sealift Command's seventeen Container & Roll-on/Roll-off Ships and is part of the 36 ships in the Prepositioning Program it is assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Program Squadron Two under the operational control of MSC Far East and operates out of Diego Garcia. In addition, a room in Bancroft Hall, the Naval Academy's dormitory, is dedicated to him, with a display including his photo and a bronze plaque of his Medal of Honor citation. (Room 4353)
