PRIVATE FIRST CLASS
RALPH H. JOHNSON, USMC (DECEASED) 

 

Medal of Honor Citation

Ralph H. Johnson, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam in March 1968, was born 11 January 1949, in Charleston, South Carolina. He attended Sinemonton Elementary School and Courtnay Elementary School in Charleston.

He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Oakland, California, 23 March 1967, and was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps, 2 July 1967.

Upon completion of recruit training with the 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California, in September 1967, he was transferred to the Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California. He underwent individual combat training with Company Y, 3d Battalion, 2d Infantry Regiment, and basic infantry training with the Basic Infantry Training Company, 2d Infantry Training Regiment, completing the latter in November 1967. He was promoted to private first class, 1 November 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 5 March 1968, while on Operation Rock, deep in enemy-held territory near the Quan Duc Duc Valley, he was killed in action.

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.

Vietnam War 1965-1973 Medal of Honor