Lawrence Joel

Lawrence Joel (February 22, 1928 – February 4, 1984) was a United States Army soldier who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. While serving in South Vietnam as a medic with the rank of specialist five assigned to 1st Battalion of the 503rd Infantry in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Joel received the Silver Star and the Medal of Honor for his heroism in a battle with the Viet Cong that occurred on November 8, 1965. He was the first medic to earn the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War and the first living black American to receive this medal since the Spanish–American War in 1898.

Childhood Joel was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the third of 16 children. Due to the extreme poverty of his family, from the age of 8 to 18, Joel was raised by a neighboring family, the Samuels.

Winston-Salem parade On April 8, 1967, Winston-Salem held a parade, the first time the city had ever held a military parade to recognize a single individual, to honor Lawrence Joel. He grew up on the east side of the city, a predominantly African-American section of Winston-Salem at the time. The New York Times called it the biggest tribute the city had ever staged.

Retirement Lawrence Joel retired from military service in 1973.

On February 4, 1984, Joel died of complications from diabetes. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 46, lot 15–1, adjacent to the Memorial Amphitheater.

Honors and awards The first military memorial named in his honor was Joel Drive, which encircles Blanchfield Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, dedicated in 1985.

In memory of Lawrence Joel and all Forsyth County veterans, the Winston-Salem Board of Aldermen (now City Council) in February 1986 decided to name the city's new coliseum the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Construction for the coliseum began one year later and opened in 1989. In 2007, a study funded by the Winston-Salem City Council opened the possibility of selling the coliseum's naming rights to some corporation.

The Joel Auditorium at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. was named after Lawrence Joel.

U.S. Army clinics at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are named after Joel.

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Awards Combat Medical Badge Senior Parachutist Badge Medal of Honor Silver Star Purple Heart Army Good Conduct Medal with two Knots Army of Occupation Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Korean Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal with one Silver star Vietnam Campaign Medal United Nations Korea Medal Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation United States Presidential Unit Citation