Captain Eurípides Rubio (March 1, 1938 – November 8, 1966) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

officer and one of nine Puerto Ricans who were

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

ly awarded the

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' highest military decoration for valor, 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 valo ...

, for actions on November 8, 1966, during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

. Rubio was a member of the

, Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment (Black Lions), 1st Infantry Division, Republic of Vietnam.

Early years

Rubio was born in the city of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, in the southern region of Puerto Rico. There, he received his primary and secondary education. Rubio was a member of the Civil Air Patrol's Ponce High School Cadet Squadron, Chapter 52012/PR012, Puerto Rico Wing, from 1952 to 1956. In 1956, Rubio joined the Army at

Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico United States Army Garrison Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, is a United States Army installation in Puerto Rico. It is located in the metropolitan area of the capital, San Juan. History Puerto Rico was part of the Spanish Empire from the time of Chr ...

.Service Profile
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Action in Vietnam

On November 8, 1966, during

Operation Attleboro Operation Attleboro was a Vietnam War search and destroy operation initiated by the 196th Light Infantry Brigade with the objective to discover the location(s) of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) base areas and force them to ...

Tay Ninh Province Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

, South Vietnam, Captain Rubio's company came under attack from the

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...

; leaving the safety of his post, Rubio received two serious wounds as he braved the intense enemy fire to distribute ammunition, re-establish positions and render aid to the wounded. Despite his pain, he assumed command when a rifle company commander was medically evacuated. He was then wounded a third time as he tried to move amongst his men to encourage them to fight with renewed effort. While aiding the evacuation of wounded personnel, he noted that a US smoke grenade, which was intended to mark the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

's position for an air strike, had fallen dangerously close to friendly lines. He ran to move the grenade but was immediately struck to his knees by enemy fire. Despite his wounds, Rubio managed to collect the grenade and again run through enemy fire to within 20 m of the enemy position to throw the by-then already smoking grenade into the enemy before he fell for the final time. Using the now-repositioned grenade as a marker, friendly air strikes were directed to destroy the hostile positions. Rubio's singularly heroic act turned the tide of the battle, and for his extraordinary leadership and valor, he

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

received the

in 1968. His remains were buried in

Puerto Rico National Cemetery Puerto Rico National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery located in the city of Bayamón, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It encompasses of land, and at the end of 2005, had 44,722 interments. Until 2021, it was the only United St ...

in the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

Medal of Honor citation

Military decorations awarded

Among the military decorations which Capt. Rubio earned were the following: Foreign unit decorations * Fourragère CG

Fourragère cord

Legacy

The United States Army Reserve Center located at the

Hato Rey Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...

sector of San Juan was named posthumously named Capt. Eurípides Rubio United States Army Reserve Center. The

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

Outpatient Clinic in Ponce was also named in memory of Captain Eurípides Rubio. The American Legion Post 142 in San Juan was named after Capt. Euripides Rubio. Rubio's name is inscribed in "El Monumento de la Recordación" (Monument of Remembrance), dedicated to Puerto Rico's fallen soldiers and situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan. His name is inscribed on the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those ...

("The Wall") on Panel 12E, Row 044. On November 11, 2008, the Government of Puerto Rico unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda an oil portrait of Captain Euripedes Rubio.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubio, Euripides 1938 births 1966 deaths Military personnel from Ponce Puerto Rican Army personnel United States Army officers Puerto Rican recipients of the Medal of Honor United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War American military personnel killed in the Vietnam War People of the Civil Air Patrol Puerto Rican military officers Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor