David M . Gonzales Private First Class David M . Gonzales ( June 9 , 1923 – April 25 , 1945 ) was a United States Army soldier who posthumously received the Medal of Honor — the United States ' highest military decoration — for his actions during World War II . On April 25 , 1945 , at age 22 , PFC Gonzales was killed in action in the Philippines while , in the face of enemy machine gun fire , digging out fellow soldiers who had been buried in a bomb explosion . Early years . David Gonzales was a semi - skilled machine shop ( and related occupations ) in Los Angeles when he joined the U . S . Army at the San Pedro , California in March 1944 . World War II . On February 1 , 1945 , Gonzales , was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge . On April 25 , 1945 , Gonzales ' company found itself engaged in combat against Japanese forces at Villa Verde Trail on Luzon island in the Philippines . A 500 - pound bomb was dropped accidentally on the wrong hill by an American P - 47 Thunderbolt . The Army Air Corps was using a tactic called " skip bombing " and were fusing the bombs for delayed action detonation to destroy the labyrinth of Japanese caves and tunnels in the northern Luzon campaign . This fusing allowed the bomb to bury itself deeply into the ground prior to detonation . This event trapped five American soldiers in their standing foxholes . On December 8 , 1945 , President Harry S . Truman , posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Gonzales , presenting the medal to his surviving family . On February 2 , 1949 , Gonzales ' body arrived in a funeral train to San Fernando , California where he was buried . Medal of Honor citation . Pvt . David M . Gonzales " Rank and organization : " Private First Class , U . S . Army , Company A , 127th Infantry , 32d Infantry Division . " Place and date : " Villa Verde Trail , Luzon , Philippine Islands , April 25 , 1945 . " Entered service at : " Pacoima , California " Birth : " Pacoima , California " G . O . No : " 115 , December 8 , 1945 . " Citation : " After the war . ' In 1999 , David Gonzales , Jr . and his wife Bea attended a ceremony for war heroes in Santa Ana , California . There they discovered that the ' picture the Army was sending out to military ceremonies was not of his father , but of someone else . Gonzales Jr . wrote to the Army in Washington , D . C . to tell them of their mistake , but did not receive a response . He then wrote to Congressman Howard Berman , who in turn referred the letter to his aide Fred Flores . Flores , who was also from Pacoima , California , immediately called Pentagon officials and had them correct the mistake . However , Flores found out that the family had only been presented with a Medal of Honor and a duplicate Purple Heart — the original one was stolen — and he realized that Gonzales had earned many other medals . During a November 7 , 2002 ceremony at Los Angeles Mission College , Congressman Berman presented David Gonzales , Jr . the following medals earned by his father : the Bronze Star , the Purple Heart , the World War II Victory Medal , the Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars , the Philippine Liberation Medal , the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button , the Combat Infantryman Badge , and the Expert Rifle Badge . Finally he presented the Gold Star Lapel Button , which identifies the next of kin of members of the military who lost their lives while engaged in action . The photo of a soldier who was not Gonzales , but identified as that of the medal winner , had been erroneously displayed in the Pentagon ' s Hall of Heroes . This was removed and replaced with a correct one of Gonzales after the renovations of the Pentagon — made necessary by the 9 / 11 attack — were completed on March 31 , 2003 . On March 20 , 2007 , Maribeth Kouts , daughter of William Walter Kouts , posted a message in Wikipedia asking for assistance in establishing contact with the Gonzales family while Kouts was still alive . With the help of a Wikipedia contributor , a meeting was arranged between Kouts and the son of the David Gonzales . In memory . In honor of David M . Gonzales , Pacoima Park in Los Angeles County , California was renamed David M . Gonzales / Pacoima Recreational Center . The local Army recruiting station there also carries his name , as does a county Probation Department camp in Malibu . Awards and recognitions . Among Pvt . David M . Gonzales ' decorations and medals were the following :