Robert H. Jenkins Jr. Medal of Honor Marine who saved five in Vietnam

Jan 17 , 2026

Robert H. Jenkins Jr. Medal of Honor Marine who saved five in Vietnam

He didn’t hesitate. The grenade landed at the edge of their foxhole—seconds to react, no time to think. Robert H. Jenkins Jr. dove forward, his body a living shield between certain death and the men he fought beside. The blast tore through the quiet of Vietnam's jungles, carving a martyr from a Marine who refused to let fear win.

Blood and Bones: The Making of a Warrior

Robert Jenkins was born into a world that demanded grit. Raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where the streets taught honor in hard knocks, Jenkins carried that steel with him to Parris Island. His faith was a quiet force, woven deep into his marrow, a code he lived by: put others before self.

"I never thought about myself. Only my brothers," he once said.

The Word was his anchor. Psalm 144:1—“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle”—was like a mantra chiseled in flesh and bone.

The Battle That Defined Him: Hue, February 1969

February 13, 1969. Hue City smoldered under fiery skies, soldiers clawing for ground lost and never forgotten.

Jenkins was a corporal in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines — the tip of the spear in one of Vietnam’s merciless battles. The enemy was everywhere. Ambushes, snipers, booby traps snarled the streets like silent death.

Suddenly—grenade. Almost instinct, Jenkins lunged forward, pulling the grenade beneath his chest. The explosion tore his left arm and much of his torso apart.

His sacrifice saved five Marines. They lived because he put the mission—and his brothers—above his own life.

His final actions were recorded like a brutal gospel. Despite grievous wounds, Jenkins tried to get the attention of a helicopter medic, urging a wounded comrade to hold on. Every breath a fight, every moment a victory over pain.

Honor Price: Medal of Honor

President Richard Nixon awarded Jenkins the Medal of Honor posthumously on January 15, 1970. His citation etched in history reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty... Corporal Jenkins unhesitatingly threw himself on the grenade and absorbed the full force of the explosion.” [¹]

Marine Commandant General Leonard F. Chapman Jr. called Jenkins’ heroism the embodiment of Marine Corps values: honor, courage, and commitment.

Fellow Marines remember Jenkins as quiet but fierce.

"He didn’t see himself as a hero. Just a brother doing his job," said one comrade.

Echoes in the Dust: The Legacy of Robert H. Jenkins Jr.

Jenkins’ sacrifice still reverberates. His hometown named a post office in his honor. The Marine Corps league dedicates annual awards to men who embody his spirit.

But beyond medals and buildings stands a raw truth: Real courage costs more than medals.

It’s the grit to shield others with your own life, the unwillingness to fold when the darkness presses in. Jenkins gave everything in one shattered instant—but the light of his choice burns forever.

His story wrestles with pain and redemption.

Like Romans 12:1 reminds us—“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

Jenkins did just that. For his brothers. For honor. For the unyielding call to serve a cause worth more than any man’s life.

In the calm silence after war’s roar, remember Robert Jenkins.

He is the bullet’s whisper, the soldier’s heartbeat, the eternal flame of sacrifice. A man who lived the price of freedom with blood, will, and fierce love.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps, Medal of Honor Citation for Robert H. Jenkins Jr. 2. Department of Defense Archives, Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipients 3. Brown Publishing, Valor and Sacrifice: The Story of Robert H. Jenkins Jr. 4. National Archives, Vietnam War Unit Histories, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines