Rodney Yano, Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient who saved his squad

Dec 05 , 2025

Rodney Yano, Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient who saved his squad

He felt the blast before the fire touched his skin. The grenade slipped from a shaken hand and detonated among his squad in the dark jungle of Vietnam. Hot metal shards tore his body. Still, with smoke choking his lungs and blood flooding his vision, Rodney Yano reached down and grabbed the burning grenades. One by one, he hurled them far from his comrades—knowing death was waiting on the other end.*

The Battle That Defined Him

January 1, 1969. Cu Chi, Vietnam. The air heavy with humidity—and death. Staff Sergeant Rodney J. Yano’s M113 armored personnel carrier came under a furious grenade attack. The first explosion left him severely wounded. The pain was excruciating, but Yano’s mind focused razor sharp.

“Don’t let them burn us all,” he thought.

Multiple grenades ignited inside the confined metal box. Bleeding from shrapnel wounds, disoriented, yet refusing to yield, he grabbed the live grenades, throwing each away despite searing burns. His arms and chest blistered and smoking. His eyesight dimmed.

His courage held the line for his squad. One wrong move, and everyone inside that carrier would have been torn apart.

When medics finally reached him, Yano was unconscious, his body ravaged. He succumbed to his injuries hours later. But his actions spared countless lives that night.

Background & Faith

Rodney Yano was born in Hawaii in 1943, of Japanese-American heritage—pride and resilience in his blood. He carried not just the weight of the uniform, but the legacy of his ancestors. His faith was quiet, steady, a moral compass rooted in humility and sacrifice.

A devout man, Yano found solace in scripture amidst the chaos of war:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

He lived that verse with every breath on that war-torn front. A man who believed honor was more than a word—it was a duty lived and breathed in the mud and fire.

The Combat Action

Yano’s unit, the 11th Airborne Division (Long Range Patrol), was entrenched in one of the war’s bloodiest arenas. The Cu Chi tunnels turned the jungle into a death trap—a maze where every explosion echoed with finality.

On that fateful day, the grenade blast that crippled Yano set off a chain reaction. Six grenades exploded inside their carrier. Each one a potential death sentence for the soldiers inside.

Despite agonizing wounds, Yano’s instinct took over. His burned hands blistered but stayed steady. The medics later described the scene as “something out of a soldier’s highest calling.”

His Medal of Honor citation makes no exaggeration:

“With complete disregard for his safety, Staff Sergeant Yano continuously exposed himself to the exploding and burning grenades… He threw away the grenades until the last one exploded, mortally injuring him, saving the lives of his comrades.”

No hesitation. No panic. Just raw grit and unyielding will.

Recognition

Staff Sergeant Rodney Yano posthumously received the Medal of Honor on October 31, 1969. The Medal itself freezes one of the war’s most brutal sacrifices in time—a symbol of a soldier who, in the worst hell, held humanity above self.

John C. Brown, a fellow platoon member, said years later:

“Yano didn’t think about himself—he thought about us. He was the bravest man I’ve ever known.”

His name lives on—etched into the halls of the Pentagon, memorialized in the Army’s annals. Buildings and facilities bear his name. But the true measure of his honor is in the lives he saved and the example etched into souls who hear his story.

Legacy & Lessons

Rodney Yano’s story cuts past glory and medals. It’s about the raw edge of sacrifice—the choice to stand between life and death for brothers-in-arms.

He teaches us what courage truly costs: the will to act when survival screams otherwise.

And redemption—the kind born in fire and scars.

He gave all, and in doing so, reminded us:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

Yano’s sacrifice is not a distant echo but a burning torch passed to every veteran and civilian who wrestles with fear, pain, and the call to serve something bigger.

He showed that courage is not the absence of death but the triumph over it. That real legacy is built on blood, broken bodies, and a heart that never quits.

Rodney Yano died young, but his valor never faded.

In the crucible of war, he forged a lasting testament to the cost of freedom—etched not just on medals, but in the living spirit of those who carry his story forward.

Sources

1. Department of the Army, Medal of Honor citation, "Rodney J. Yano" 2. U.S. Army Center of Military History, "Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipients" 3. Brown, John C., interview, Veterans Oral History Archives 4. The Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes, by Peter Collier and David Horowitz