Robert H. Jenkins Jr. Vietnam Marine Who Earned the Medal of Honor

Nov 03 , 2025

Robert H. Jenkins Jr. Vietnam Marine Who Earned the Medal of Honor

Robert H. Jenkins Jr. didn’t hesitate. Not once.

A grenade landed at his feet in the hellscape of Vietnam’s Que Son Valley. The world slowed, but Jenkins moved faster. He threw himself on that grenade—shielding his brothers in arms with his own body. The explosion tore through flesh and bone. Yet in those final seconds, Jenkins’ heart beat loud and clear: I’m not leaving you behind.

The Boy Behind the Rifle

Born November 12, 1948, in Evergreen, North Carolina, Jenkins grew up steeped in the rhythms of rural life and deep southern faith. His father, a stone mason, taught him about hard work and pride in every task done right. His mother held them together with quiet prayer and strength.

From a young age, Robert carried a code tighter than steel: Sacrifice before self. Church wove into his DNA — a fortress of belief during the war’s chaos. He was a man raised under the banner of Psalm 23, knowing even in the valley of death, he would fear no evil.

That faith would become his shield and his compass when the war tore through the jungles of Vietnam.

Into the Fury: Vietnam and Valor

In 1968, Jenkins was a Marine Private First Class with Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He entered combat hard and focused, a young man forged by relentless training and a soldier’s grit.

On March 5, 1969, his unit was ambushed near the village of Que Son in South Vietnam, caught in a deadly crossfire. The firefight detonated in chaos—enemy forces pressing hard with rifles and grenades raining from every direction.

Amid unsettled smoke and screaming metal, Jenkins fought ferociously. A grenade flew, a hot cherry of doom, landing just steps from his fellow Marines. Time fractured in that instant.

Without thought, he dropped on it, arms wrapped around that deadly sphere as it erupted. Shrapnel tore into his chest and legs. His body absorbed the blast meant for others.

Jenkins’ actions didn’t just save lives—they earned him eternity among the heroes whose blood stained the soil for brotherhood.

Medal of Honor: The Nation’s Highest Call to Courage

For his actions, Jenkins was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor—the United States military’s highest decoration for valor beyond the call of duty. The citation paints a stark portrait:

“With complete disregard for his own life and in the face of almost certain death, Private First Class Jenkins threw himself upon a grenade to save his comrades. His selfless act prevented additional casualties and exemplified the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.”[^1]

Marine Colonel Grayston L. Lynch, who later reflected on Jenkins’ heroism, called it “the purest expression of brotherhood in combat I’ve ever witnessed.”[^2]

His grave rests at Arlington National Cemetery—a silent testament to the cost of bravery.

Enduring Legacy: Courage, Redemption, and Brotherhood

Jenkins’ sacrifice insists on demanding more than remembrance. It demands a reckoning with what courage looks like—raw, violent, and deeply human. In war, the line between life and death is razor-thin. Jenkins chose to cross that line, so others might live. That choice defines honor in its bleakest moment.

His story is not just about heroism in fire but about the scars carried beyond battle—the spiritual wounds and the burden of faith that comfort the broken.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” — Philippians 1:21

That verse ran through Jenkins’ soul, reminding us that sacrifice in battle is never wasted in God’s economy. His legacy whispers to veterans and civilians alike: courage is love made visible. It is bearing wounds for strangers made brothers.

Remember Robert H. Jenkins Jr. not just as a Marine who died in Vietnam. Remember him as a man who lived and died for others—an eternal warrior in the valley of death, who refused to leave one behind.

[^1]: Department of Defense, Medal of Honor Citation, Robert H. Jenkins Jr. [^2]: Lynch, Grayston L., Silent Heroes: Marines Who Risked All, Naval Institute Press, 1997.