Allen James Lynch (born October 28, 1945) is a former United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Early life

Born on October 28, 1945, in Chicago, Lynch grew up in the Lake Eliza area of Porter County, Indiana, where he attended Union Center Elementary School and Wheeler Junior High School.

Military career

Lynch joined the United States Army from Chicago in 1964, and by December 15, 1967, was serving as a

specialist four Specialist is a military rank in some countries’ armed forces. Two branches of the United States Armed Forces use the rank. It is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the United States Army, above private (PVT), private (PV2), and private ...

in Company D, 1st Battalion (Airmobile),

12th Cavalry Regiment The 12th Cavalry is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army. History On 2 February 1901, Congress authorized the organization of the Twelfth Regiment of Cavalry, Army of the United States. Under this authority, the regiment was formed at ...

, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). During a firefight on that day, near My An, Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Lynch rescued three wounded soldiers and stayed behind to protect them when the rest of the

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

withdrew. He single-handedly defended the wounded men against enemy attack until locating a friendly force that could evacuate them. Lynch was subsequently promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

and awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. The medal was formally presented to him by President Richard Nixon in 1970.

Later life

After the war, Lynch settled in Gurnee, Illinois, and worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he advocated increased benefits for disabled veterans. He later served as chief of the Illinois Attorney General's Veterans Rights Bureau until his retirement in 2005. Lynch has volunteered for the

Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is th ...

organization, is the liaison for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and frequently gives speeches at military-related events, such as Memorial Day ceremonies. Lynch's memoir, entitled ''Zero to Hero'', was published in 2019.

Medal of Honor citation

References

External links

Interview
at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

on September 13, 2007
Interview
with Jack H. Jacobs on ''Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty'' at the

on November 19, 2011
Interview
at the