Daniel Fernandez

Daniel D. Fernández (June 30, 1944 – February 18, 1966) was a United States Army soldier in the Vietnam War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in Hậu Nghĩa province, Republic of Vietnam, in February 1966.

Early years Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 30, 1944, Fernández grew up in nearby Los Lunas. and by 1966, he was on his second tour of duty in Vietnam. During that deployment, Fernández served as a specialist four in Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division. On February 18, 1966, in Củ Chi, Hậu Nghĩa province, his 16-man patrol was ambushed by a Viet Cong rifle company and forced to fall back. Fernández and two others volunteered to follow a sergeant back to the ambush site and rescue a wounded soldier who had been left behind. After reaching the injured man, the sergeant was shot in the knee and Fernández took over command of the patrol. All five men were pinned down by heavy fire when a rifle grenade landed in their midst. In the scramble to get away from the device, Fernández accidentally kicked it closer to the rest of the group. He then shouted "move out", jumped over the immobile sergeant, and threw himself on the grenade. Fernández was killed in the resulting explosion, but successfully saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.