James H Monroe
Jim was born in Aurora, Illinois on the 17th of October, 1944, and grew up playing football and was in the biology club at Wheaton Central High School. He graduated in 1962 and went on to attend Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Jim was drafted into the US Army in June of 1966 and was deployed to the Republic of Vietnam five months later. It was his actions on the 16th of February, 1967, as a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. His platoon was deployed in a night ambush when the position was suddenly subjected to an intense and accurate grenade attack, and 1 foxhole was hit immediately. Responding without hesitation to the calls for help from the wounded men Pfc. Monroe moved forward through heavy small-arms fire to the foxhole but found that all of the men had expired. He turned immediately and crawled back through the deadly hail of fire toward other calls for aid. He moved to the platoon sergeant's position where he found the radio operator bleeding profusely from fragmentation and bullet wounds. Ignoring the continuing enemy attack, Pfc. Monroe began treating the wounded man when he saw a live grenade fall directly in front of the position. He shouted a warning to all those nearby, pushed the wounded radio operator and the platoon sergeant to one side, and lunged forward to smother the grenade's blast with his body. Through his valorous actions, performed in a flash of inspired selflessness, Pfc. Monroe saved the lives of 2 of his comrades and prevented the probable injury of several others. His gallantry and intrepidity were in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army, and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
Jim's family was presented his Medal of Honor on the 17th of October, 1968, which would have been his 24th birthday, in a ceremony at the Pentagon. His Medal went on display at the middle school in Wheaton, which was named the Monroe Middle School and a medical clinic at Fort Hood was also named in his honor. James Howard Monroe was twenty-two at the time of his death and he is buried in Wheaton Cemetery in Wheaton, Illinois. His name appears on Panel 15E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington DC.
