Richard Allen Penry (November 18, 1948 – May 9, 1994) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

—for his actions in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Biography

Born in Petaluma, California, Penry joined the Army from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

in March 1969, and by January 31, 1970, was serving as a

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 ...

in Company C, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment,

199th Infantry Brigade The 199th Infantry Brigade (Light) is a unit of the United States Army which served in the Army Reserve from 1921 to 1940, in the active army from 1966 to 1970 (serving in the Vietnam War), briefly in 1991–1992 at Fort Lewis, and from 2007 as a ...

. On that day, in Binh Tuy Province of the Republic of Vietnam, his unit came under an intense enemy attack. After 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 ...

commander was wounded, Penry helped organize the defense of the area and repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to retrieve supplies and return fire. He was honorably discharged from the Army in March 1971. Richard A

Penry died at age 45 and was buried in Cypress Hill Memorial Park in Petaluma. Penry has two namesakes in his hometown: a park that was renamed in his honor, and a small military museum, the Sgt. Richard Penry Medal of Honor Memorial Military Museum, where his Medal of Honor is displayed.

Medal of Honor citation

Awards and decorations

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penry, Richard A. 1948 births 1994 deaths People from Petaluma, California United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Military personnel from California Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) United States Army soldiers Recipients of the Air Medal Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

Awards and decorations

See also

Sources

References