John Baca John Philip Baca ( born January 10 , 1949 ) is a former United States Army soldier and a Vietnam War veteran . He was awarded the Medal of Honor , the highest decoration of the United States Armed Forces , for his actions in combat . Biography . Baca was born on January 10 , 1949 , in Providence , Rhode Island . He was raised in San Diego , California . Baca was drafted into the United States Army on June 10 , 1968 . By February 10 , 1970 , he was stationed in Vietnam as a Specialist Four with Company D of the 1st Battalion , 12th Cavalry Regiment , 1st Cavalry Division . On that day , in Phuoc Long Province , he was serving on a recoilless rifle team when the lead platoon of his company was ambushed . Baca led his team forward through intense fire to reach the besieged platoon . When a fragmentation grenade was tossed into their midst , he " unhesitatingly , and with complete disregard for his own safety , " covered it with his helmet and then laid his body over the helmet , smothering the blast and saving eight fellow soldiers from severe injury or death . Baca survived his wounds and was formally awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard M . Nixon on March 2 , 1971 . Two other soldiers in Company D , Allen J . Lynch and Rodney J . Evans , had previously earned the medal . In 1990 , Baca returned to Vietnam with ten other soldiers of the Veterans Vietnam Restoration Project . The group spent eight weeks working alongside former North Vietnamese Army soldiers building a health clinic in a village north of Hanoi . Baca rarely speaks publicly about the events for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor . However , he prefers to recall an event that occurred on Christmas Day , 1969 , when he was walking ahead of his unit , acting as " point , " and surprised a young North Vietnamese soldier sitting alone on top of an enemy bunker in the jungle . He saw that the soldier could not reach his rifle quickly and , not wanting to shoot him , yelled in Vietnamese for him to surrender . Not only was he able to take his " Christmas gift " alive and unharmed , the young man , twenty years later , was among the Vietnamese that Baca worked with building the clinic in 1990 . Baca remains active in social causes , particularly related to Vietnam veterans issues and the plight of the homeless . In 2002 , a park was named in his honor in Huntington Beach , California . At the park ' s dedication on April 27 , John read the following poem he penned for the occasion : Medal of Honor citation . Baca ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty . Sp4c . Baca , Company D , distinguished himself while serving on a recoilless rifle team during a night ambush mission . A platoon from his company was sent to investigate the detonation of an automatic ambush device forward of his unit ' s main position and soon came under intense enemy fire from concealed positions along the trail . Hearing the heavy firing from the platoon position and realizing that his recoilless rifle team could assist the members of the besieged patrol , Sp4c . Baca led his team through the hail of enemy fire to a firing position within the patrol ' s defensive perimeter . As they prepared to engage the enemy , a fragmentation grenade was thrown into the midst of the patrol . Fully aware of the danger to his comrades , Sp4c . Baca unhesitatingly , and with complete disregard for his own safety , covered the grenade with his steel helmet and fell on it as the grenade exploded , thereby absorbing the lethal fragments and concussion with his body . His gallant action and total disregard for his personal well - being directly saved 8 men from certain serious injury or death . The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Sp4c . Baca , at the risk of his life , are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him , his unit , and the U . S . Army .