Kenneth E Stumpf
Kenneth was born on the 28th of September 1944, in Neenah, Wisconsin. He played minor league baseball in his hometown of Menasha and jokingly told his mother to wake him if a draft letter came in the mail. Kenneth woke to his mother handing him a draft letter, but not from a baseball team. Instead, it was from the local Selective Service Board. He was either 20 or 21 years old when he was drafted into the US Army in 1965 (depends on the date in September) and it was during his first deployment with 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division in support of the Vietnam War that he would display actions 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. S/Sgt. Stumpf distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader of the 3d Platoon, Company C, on a search-and-destroy mission. As S/Sgt. Stumpf's company approached a village, it encountered a North Vietnamese rifle company occupying a well-fortified bunker complex. During the initial contact, three men from his squad fell wounded in front of a hostile machine-gun emplacement. The enemy's heavy volume of fire prevented the unit from moving to the aid of the injured men, but S/Sgt. Stumpf left his secure position in a deep trench and ran through the barrage of incoming rounds to reach his wounded comrades. He picked up one of the men and carried him back to the safety of the trench. Twice more S/Sgt. Stumpf dashed forward while the enemy turned automatic weapons and machine guns upon him, yet he managed to rescue the remaining two wounded squad members. He then organized his squad and led an assault against several enemy bunkers from which continuously heavy fire was being received. He and his squad successfully eliminated two of the bunker positions, but one to the front of the advancing platoon remained a serious threat. Arming himself with extra hand grenades, S/Sgt. Stumpf ran over open ground, through a volley of fire directed at him by a determined enemy, toward the machine-gun position. As he reached the bunker, he threw a hand grenade through the aperture. It was immediately returned by the occupants, forcing S/Sgt. Stumpf to take cover. Undaunted, he pulled the pins on two more grenades, held them for a few seconds after activation, then hurled them into the position, this time successfully destroying the emplacement. With the elimination of this key position, his unit was able to assault and overrun the enemy. S/Sgt. Stumpf's relentless spirit of aggressiveness, intrepidity, and ultimate concern for the lives of his men, are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
Kenneth returned home in September of 1967 and completed his enlistment in the Army. About six months later he received a call that he would be receiving the Medal of Honor, which he did on the 19th of September 1968, from President Johnson. Kenneth re-enlisted into the Army and married Dorothy in December of 1968. He would deploy two more times to Vietnam, once being wounded during an assault on an enemy position and retired from the Army in September of 1994 at the rank of Sergeant Major. Kenneth and Dorothy had two sons and one daughter, and on the 23rd of April 2022, Kenneth Edward Stumpf died at the age of 77. A full honors burial has yet to be announced but it is safe to assume he will be laid to rest with his wife in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 47, Site 617.
