Ralph H . Johnson Ralph Henry Johnson ( January 11 , 1949 – March 5 , 1968 ) was a United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism in March 1968 during the Vietnam War . When a hand grenade was thrown into his fighting hole , he immediately covered it with his body — absorbing the full impact of the blast — sacrificing his life to save a fellow Marine and preventing the enemy from penetrating his patrol perimeter . Biography . Ralph Johnson was born on January 11 , 1949 , in Charleston , South Carolina . He attended Courtnay Elementary School and Simonton Jr . High School in Charleston , South Carolina . Johnson enlisted in the U . S . Marine Corps Reserve at Oakland , California on March 23 , 1967 , and was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps on July 2 , 1967 . Upon completion of recruit training with the 1st Recruit Training Battalion , Recruit Training Regiment , MCRD San Diego , California , in September 1967 , he was transferred to the Camp Pendleton , California . He underwent individual combat training with Company Y , 3rd Battalion , 2nd Infantry Regiment , and basic infantry training with the Basic Infantry Training Company , 2nd Infantry Training Regiment , completing the latter in November 1967 . He was promoted to private first class on November 1 , 1967 . In January 1968 , he arrived in the Republic of Vietnam , and served as a reconnaissance scout with Company A , 1st Reconnaissance Battalion , 1st Marine Division . On March 5 , 1968 , while on Operation Rock , deep in enemy - held territory near the Quan Duc Valley , his 15 - man reconnaissance patrol was attacked by a platoon - sized enemy force . When a hand grenade landed in the fighting hole he shared with fellow Marines , he yelled a warning and immediately hurled his body over the explosive charge . Absorbing the full impact of the blast , he was killed instantly . His heroic actions on that day were recognized with a posthumous award of the United States ' highest military decoration , the Medal of Honor . Ralph H . Johnson is buried in the Beaufort National Cemetery in South Carolina . Decorations and honors . Military decorations . A complete list of his medals and decorations includes : the Medal of Honor , the Purple Heart , the National Defense Service Medal , the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars , the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm , the Vietnamese Military Merit Medal , and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal . Honors . The Ralph H . Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston , South Carolina , formerly the Charleston VA Medical Center , was renamed in honor of PFC Johnson , with a formal dedication on September 5 , 1991 . Johnson ' s Medal of Honor , along with his Medal of Honor citation and a portrait of him , is framed and on public display at the Ralph H . Johnson VA Medical Center ' s front lobby . On February 15 , 2012 , the Navy announced that a new would be named the in his honor . Johnson ' s name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ( " The Wall " ) in Washington , D . C . on Panel 43E , Line 008 . Medal of Honor citation . The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to PRIVATE FIRST CLASS RALPH H . JOHNSON UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS for service as set forth in the following CITATION : / S / RICHARD M . NIXON