505:. Corporal Paul, fully aware that his tactics would almost certainly result in serious injury or death to himself, chose to disregard his own safety and boldly dashed across the fire-swept rice paddies, placed himself between his wounded comrades and the enemy, and delivered effective suppressive fire with his automatic weapon in order to divert the attack long enough to allow the casualties to be evacuated. Although critically wounded during the course of the battle, he resolutely remained in his exposed position and continued to fire his rifle until he collapsed and was evacuated. By his fortitude and gallant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death, he saved the lives of several of his fellow Marines. His heroic action served to inspire all who observed him and reflect the highest credit upon himself, the Marine Corps and the
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On August 18, 1965, while serving as a fire team leader with
Company H, LCpl Paul placed himself between his wounded comrades and the enemy and delivered effective suppressive fire in order to divert the
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long enough to allow the casualties to be evacuated. He fought in this exposed position until he was mortally wounded. He succumbed to his wounds the next day, August 19, 1965.
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in the
Republic of Vietnam on 18 August 1965. In violent battle, Lance Corporal Paul's platoon sustained five casualties as it was temporarily pinned down by devastating
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where he was promoted to private first class in
December 1963 and to lance corporal in October 1964. With that unit, he sailed for the Far East, arriving in Chu Lai,
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For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Fire Team Leader with
Company H,
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425:(ex-DE 1080) was named for LCpl Paul. The ship was christened and launched on June 20, 1970, and decommissioned in August 1992.
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on May 7, 1965, where this unit was redesignated
Company H, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines,
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for diverting an attack long enough to allow the evacuation of wounded
Marines during
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681:"LCpl Joe C. Paul, Medal of Honor, 1965, 2/4/3, Vietnam, Medal of Honor citation"
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Joe C. Paul was buried in the Dayton
Memorial Park Cemetery in Dayton.
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United States Marine Corps personnel killed in the
Vietnam War
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takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to
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List of Medal of Honor recipients for the
Vietnam War
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United States Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients
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for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
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32:Joe C. Paul, posthumous Medal of Honor recipient
666:, History Division, United States Marine Corps"
235:Joe Calvin Paul was born on April 23, 1946, in
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735:Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor
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192:(April 23, 1946 – August 19, 1965) was a
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300:Paul's medals and decorations include:
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730:People from Whitley County, Kentucky
256:Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
662:"Lance Corporal Joe C. Paul, USMC,
586:"USS Paul FF-1080 Information Page"
566:from websites or documents of the
475:Third Marine Division (Reinforced)
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664:Who's Who in Marine Corps History
542:List of Medal of Honor recipients
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260:Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
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445:President of the United States
385:National Defense Service Medal
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568:United States Marine Corps
458:UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
455:LANCE CORPORAL JOE C. PAUL
265:He then joined Company H,
241:United States Marine Corps
136:2nd Battalion, 4th Marines
108:United States Marine Corps
432:Vietnam Veterans Memorial
269:, 1st Marine Brigade, in
267:2nd Battalion 4th Marines
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439:Medal of Honor citation
434:on Panel 02E, Line 063.
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399:Vietnam Campaign Medal
243:on April 26, 1963, in
237:Williamsburg, Kentucky
51:Williamsburg, Kentucky
725:United States Marines
610:Naval Vessel Register
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390:Vietnam Service Medal
222:Secretary of the Navy
113:Years of service
378:Combat Action Ribbon
194:United States Marine
279:3rd Marine Division
275:Republic of Vietnam
140:3rd Marine Division
614:United States Navy
606:"USS Paul FF-1080"
409:United States Navy
210:Operation Starlite
157:Operation Starlite
72:Quang Nam Province
515:LYNDON B. JOHNSON
491:automatic weapons
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296:Awards and honors
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683:. Archived from
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634:"Joe Paul, LCPL"
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146:Battles/wars
88:Dayton, Ohio
63:(1965-08-19)
715:1965 deaths
710:1946 births
198:Vietnam War
151:Vietnam War
134:Company H,
704:Categories
643:2006-06-15
619:2006-06-15
591:2006-06-15
553:References
95:Allegiance
44:1946-04-23
499:Viet Cong
419:USS
287:Viet Cong
231:Biography
116:1963–1965
691:June 15,
520:See also
103:Service/
655:General
479:Chu Lai
254:at the
218:Vietnam
214:Chu Lai
163:†
68:Chu Lai
572:Inline
493:, and
483:mortar
271:Hawaii
173:Awards
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105:branch
495:rifle
392:w/ 1
212:near
693:2006
673:2010
513:/S/
443:The
421:Paul
413:Knox
407:The
200:who
131:Unit
121:Rank
58:Died
53:, US
38:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
