Matthew Leonard

Matthew Leonard

Christof Ambrosch
Vietnam War
426 Leonard.jpg

Matthew  was born on the 26th of November, 1929, in Eutaw, Alabama, and he went to school at Avondale Elementary School, which at the time was segregated and had separate schools for blacks and whites. He was in the Boy Scouts and became very close with a girl named Lois in the sixth grade, who would later marry him and they would have five children. Matthew joined the US Army in 1947 while still in school and he planned to make a career out of it. He deployed to Korea during the Korean War and then lived in Germany with his family before moving to Fort Leonard Wood to train soldiers for their deployment to Vietnam. Matthew volunteered to deploy to Vietnam and according to his wife, he had known that he wouldn’t survive the war and had even said that if he went down, he would make history. Well, on the 28th of February, 1967, Matthew displayed 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. His platoon was suddenly attacked by a large enemy force employing small-arms, automatic weapons, and hand grenades. Although the platoon leader and several other key leaders were among the first wounded, P/Sgt. Leonard quickly rallied his men to throw back the initial enemy assaults. During the short pause that followed, he organized a defensive perimeter, redistributed ammunition, and inspired his comrades through his forceful leadership and words of encouragement. Noticing a wounded companion outside the perimeter, he dragged the man to safety but was struck by a sniper's bullet which shattered his left hand. Refusing medical attention and continuously exposing himself to the increasing fire as the enemy again assaulted the perimeter, P/Sgt. Leonard moved from position to position to direct the fire of his men against the well-camouflaged foe. Under the cover of the main attack, the enemy moved a machine gun into a location where it could sweep the entire perimeter. This threat was magnified when the platoon machine gun in this area malfunctioned. P/Sgt. Leonard quickly crawled to the gun position and was helping to clear the malfunction when the gunner and other men in the vicinity were wounded by fire from the enemy machine gun. P/Sgt. Leonard rose to his feet, charged the enemy gun, and destroyed the hostile crew despite being hit several times by enemy fire. He moved to a tree, propped himself against it, and continued to engage the enemy until he succumbed to his many wounds. His fighting spirit, heroic leadership, and valiant acts inspired the remaining members of his platoon to hold back the enemy until assistance arrived. P/Sgt. Leonard's profound courage and devotion to his men are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and his gallant actions reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.

The Medal of Honor was presented to his family on the 19th of December, 1968 by the Secretary of the Army in a ceremony at the Pentagon and Matthew Leonard was initially buried in the Shadowlawn Memorial Park in Birmingham, Alabama, but now rests in the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery: Section 14, Grave 27. His wife, Lois, joined him in 2020.

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