Hugh R. Nelson Jr.

Hugh Reavis Nelson Jr. (11 July 1937 – 5 June 1966) was a United States Army officer who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on 3 January 2025 for his actions on 5 June 1966 during the Vietnam War.

Early life He was born on 11 July 1937 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to United States Army Air Corps Lieutenant colonel Hugh Reavis Nelson Sr. and Sarah Beth Burnett (Diddy) Nelson. He had a younger brother, Joseph Reed Peter Nelson, and sister, Frances Barbara Nelson McComas Rowe (deceased).

He graduated from Durham High School in 1955, where he played football and ran track, placing third in the state championship his senior year, and belonged to other clubs and organizations.

He graduated from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1959 and married Elizabeth Ann Dees on 22 July 1959. They had three children: Debra Ann, Margaret Dees and Hugh Reavis Nelson III.

Military career President Joe Biden stands next to Debra Nelson McKnight during the reading of the Medal of Honor citation for Captain Hugh R. Nelson Jr. He was commissioned in September 1963. He was stationed in Taiwan for three years, then reported for duty in South Vietnam on 2 January 1966, serving with the 114th Aviation Company (Airmobile Light).

Medal of Honor Citation