Jose F. Jimenez

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Jose Francisco Jimenez
March 20, 1946(1946-03-20) – August 28, 1969 (aged 23)
  
Jose F. Jimenez, posthumous Medal of Honor recipient
Place of birth Mexico City, Mexico
Place of death Killed in action in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam
Allegiance Flag of the United States United States of America
Service/branch United States Marine Corps
Years of service 1968-1969
Rank Lance Corporal
Unit 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines
Battles/wars Vietnam War
Awards Medal of Honor
Purple Heart

Jose Francisco Jimenez (20 March 1946 – 28 August 1969) was a United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam in August 1969.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Jose Jimenez was born on 20 March 1946, in Mexico City, Mexico. He attended Benito Juarez School and Jose Maria Morelos School in Morelia. 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.[1]

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.[1]

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 on 1 October 1968.[1]

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

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

While participating in action against the enemy south of Da Nang, Quang Nam Province on 28 August 1969, he was killed in action.[1]

[edit] Awards and decorations

Lance Corporal Jiminez's medals include:

[edit] Medal of Honor citation

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

LANCE CORPORAL JOSE F. JIMENEZ
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

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.[2]

/S/RICHARD M. NIXON

[edit] In Memory

Lance Corporal Jose Francisco Jimenez has his name inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("The Wall") on Panel 18W Line 002.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lance Corporal Jose Francisco Jimenez, USMC, Medal of Honor recipient. Who's who in Marine Corps history. History Division, United States Marine Corps (September 18, 2003). Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
  2. ^ Medal of Honor — LCpl Jose F. Jimenez (Medal of Honor citation). Medal of Honor, 1969, 3/7/1, Vietnam. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on 2006-06-13. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
  3. ^ Jose Jimenez, LCPL, Marine Corps. The Virtual Wall. Retrieved on 2006-06-16.

[edit] See also

United States Marine Corps Portal

[edit] References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Marine Corps.

[edit] External links