John P Bobo
John was born on the 14th of February, 1943, in Niagara Falls, New York, and once he graduated from Bishop Duffy High School, he attended Niagara University. Here he majored in history and shortly before graduating in June of 1965, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserve and received a commissioned to Second Lieutenant on the 17th of December, 1965. John continued on to Officer Candidate School, The Basic School, and Marine Corps School over the next year and by the time he was to deploy to Vietnam, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He was the platoon leader of Second Platoon of Company I and it was his actions during Operation Prairie III on the 30th of March, 1967, that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Company I was establishing night ambush sites when the command group was attacked by a reinforced North Vietnamese company supported by heavy automatic-weapons and mortar fire. 2d Lt. Bobo immediately organized a hasty defense and moved from position to position encouraging the outnumbered marines despite the murderous enemy fire. Recovering a rocket launcher from among the friendly casualties, he organized a new launcher team and directed its fire into the enemy machine-gun positions. When an exploding enemy mortar round severed 2d Lt. Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as a tourniquet and with his leg jammed into the dirt to contain the bleeding he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the marines. 2d Lt. Bobo was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the mainpoint of the enemy attack but his valiant spirit inspired his men to heroic efforts, and his tenacious stand enabled the command group to gain a protective position where it repulsed the enemy onslaught. 2d Lt. Bobo's superb leadership, dauntless courage, and bold initiative reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Operation Prairie III was a continuation of Operation Prairie II, which was a continuation of Operation Prairie, which was an operation to eliminate the People’s Army of Vietnam south of the Demilitarized Zone. It was primarily conducted by the Marines and two of the three operations were deemed a US operational success, which like most things during the Vietnam War, success was based purely on deaths and captures; a fairly controversial metric for success.
John was 24 years old when he died and his body was returned to the states. His parents, Paul and Jane, received his posthumous Medal of Honor on the 27th of August, 1968, from the Secretary of the Navy at the Marine Barracks in Washington DC. His name appears on a US military sealift command ship, the officer’s mess hall at the Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia, a Medal of Honor monument in Niagara Falls State Park, the baseball field at Niagara University, and his name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Panel 17E, Row 70. John Paul Bobo is buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Lewiston, New York: Garden of Saint Mark.
