FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Rodolfo P Hernandez ~ 21 September 2020

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday...
Thank the Veterans who served
in The United States Armed Forces.

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---

~ Hall of Heroes ~

Rodolfo P. Hernandez
Info from here.

           

Rodolfo Perez "Rudy" Hernandez (April 14, 1931 – December 21, 2013) was a United States Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor — America's highest military decoration — for his actions in the Korean War. Despite his wounds, Hernandez's actions during an enemy counterattack near Wonton-ni allowed his platoon to retake their defensive position.

Hernandez, a Mexican-American, was one of eight children born to a farmworker. At a young age his family moved from Colton where Hernandez was born, to Fowler, California, where he received his primary education. In 1948, when he was 17 years old, he joined the United States Army with his parents' consent. After completing his basic training, Hernandez volunteered for paratrooper school. Upon the completion of his paratrooper training he was sent to Germany, where he was stationed until the outbreak of the Korean War.

On August 27, 1950, the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment was reorganized and redesignated as the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. The unit was quickly sent to Korea. The 187th Airborne performed operations into Munsan-ni Valley, and fought bloody battles at Inje and Wonton-ni. Hernandez was reassigned to Company G of the 2nd Battalion, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. His platoon was ordered to defend Hill 420, located near Wonton-ni. On May 31, 1951, his platoon was the object of a numerically superior enemy counterattack. A close-quarters firefight broke out when enemy troops surged up the hill and inflicted numerous casualties on the platoon. Hernandez was wounded during the attack, but was able to fire upon the rushing enemy troops. After a cartridge in his rifle ruptured, he continued attacking the enemy with his bayonet. His attack enabled his comrades to regroup and take back the hill.

A grenade explosion that blew away part of his brain knocked him unconscious. Hernandez, who had received grenade, bayonet, and bullet wounds, appeared dead to the first medic who reached him, Keith Oates. Oates realized, however, that Hernandez was still alive when he saw him move his fingers. Hernandez woke up a month later in a military hospital, unable to move his arms or legs or to talk. On April 12, 1952, President Harry S. Truman bestowed upon Hernandez the Medal of Honor in a ceremony held in the White House Rose Garden. After many surgeries and physical therapy over a five-year period, Hernandez regained limited use of his right arm and learned to write with his left hand.

Hernandez married and had three children. He retired from a job at the Veterans Administration and lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Carteret County Veterans Council named Hernandez one of two grand marshals of its November 11, 2006, annual Veterans Day Parade held in downtown Morehead City. On November 10, 2007, he was again co-grand marshal of the Morehead City Veterans Day Parade. During the event, he was reunited with his rescuer "from a long and far away battlefield," the former Korean War Army medic and current Morehead City resident, Keith Oates. Hernandez was also the Grand Marshal of the 2012 North Carolina Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony held each Memorial Day in Thomasville, NC, and attended as an honored guest in 2013. Hernandez died at Womack Army Medical Center in Fayetteville on December 21, 2013. He had been battling "cancer and several other ailments" in the last month of his life.

Medal of Honor Citation

Rodolfo P. Hernandez

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company G, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team
Place and date: Near Wontong-ni, Korea, May 31, 1951
Entered service at: Fowler, California
Born: April 14, 1931, Colton, California
G.O. No.: 40, April 12, 1952

Cpl. Hernandez, a member of Company G, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. His platoon, in defensive positions on Hill 420, came under ruthless attack by a numerically superior and fanatical hostile force, accompanied by heavy artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire which inflicted numerous casualties on the platoon. His comrades were forced to withdraw due to lack of ammunition but Cpl. Hernandez, although wounded in an exchange of grenades, continued to deliver deadly fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants until a ruptured cartridge rendered his rifle inoperative. Immediately leaving his position, Cpl. Hernandez rushed the enemy armed only with rifle and bayonet. Fearlessly engaging the foe, he killed 6 of the enemy before falling unconscious from grenade, bayonet, and bullet wounds but his heroic action momentarily halted the enemy advance and enabled his unit to counterattack and retake the lost ground. The indomitable fighting spirit, outstanding courage, and tenacious devotion to duty clearly demonstrated by Cpl. Hernandez reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry, and the U.S. Army.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[Kathy in Alaska]

What a wonderful day you and Blue enjoyed.

[radu]

Great to see you again! It HAS been a while. I hope all’s well with you these days.

[radu]

Hey there, Kathy.

I didn’t go to the booth today. They only had the fair going for a few hours early in the day.

We had a great bunch of folks stopping by yesterday and Friday and sold out of several of the items we had. Lotsa fun this weekend, though I’ve had a sinus headache all day today. The air is full of dust, ragweed pollen, and smoke from the fires out west. I stayed inside today other than to feed Jobu and give him a brief lovin’.

[Kathy in Alaska]

What a terrific reminder that NO ONE has been held accountable for the murders of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Ty Woods.

And where the heck are all those survivors???

[radu]

You’re back in the church at long last? YAY!!! I’ll bet all of you are happy about that.

Except for a sinus headache, it’s been a good enough day. Got things done around the house that have been neglected the past couple of days.

I know Freeport is flooding now from Beta. Bob Pack was driving around this afternoon and early evening and it wasn’t pretty. The ocean is really fired up.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Sounds like staying inside was a very good idea.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[luvie]

Yes, it’s good to be back, and I’m sure our friends are glad they don’t have to disrupt their home to have us there..though we were so grateful that they did.

Gosh, and the thing isn’t supposed to come ashore till tomorrow. It’s going to flood where they’ve already had too much from Hanna and here we sit over here STILL not getting a drop of rain. NOT fair! LOL!

[radu]

Yes, it was. The headache’s backing off at last after staying out of the funky air. We need some rain.

[ConorMacNessa]

It's been a rough Summer for me, radu - I've been in and out of hospital. My last hospitalization resulted in a diagnosis of a dangerous condition - orthostatic hypotension. When I would get up from a lying position to a sitting position, or from a sitting to standing position, I would have about 30 seconds of dizziness or feeling faint. I was on two medications that lowered my pulse and blood pressure to dangerous levels - that was the cause of it. They took me off those medications, a beta-blocker and my high blood pressure med, and the condition has gone away. I guess you could say it saved my life.

"I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces guarding our country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense."

[ConorMacNessa]

The Nation has forgotten about it - no surprise there. Sadly, no one will ever be held accountable and the survivors have been effectively muzzled.

"I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces guarding our country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense."

[radu]

It was very nice of them to let y’all have services in their home. But yeah, they’re probably happy to have things back to normal again. :-)

Beta doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to move along. That area of TX is going to be VERY soggy before all’s said and done.

I hoped to find a live cam at a hotel in Bermuda in order to keep tabs on Teddy. They aren’t getting a direct hit but will still get TS weather. I hope my cousin and his wife get through this one as well as they got through Paulette last weekend.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

w h !!

Thanks, unique!

Mac.....#50!!

[radu]

Oh my goodness! No wonder you’ve been AWOL. You had a legitimate excuse. YIKES!

I’m glad they figured out it was the meds causing the problems and took you off them. Whew!

Nice to have you back here with us again. *HUGZ*

[Kathy in Alaska]

*sigh* I suspect the same.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[ConorMacNessa]

Ladies, I'm packing it in and heading up the spiral staircase to Boudoir MacNessa.

Good night.

"I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces guarding our country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense."

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]