Milton Olive III was only 18 years old, a Private First Class in Company B, 2nd Battalion

Milton Olive III was only 18 years old, a Private First Class in Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, serving in Vietnam. On October 22, 1965, he and four other soldiers were navigating the jungle near Phu Cuong, chasing Viet Cong forces after a firefight. Suddenly, an enemy gre*ade fell right in the middle of their group. There was no shelter. No time to contemplate. Olive spotted it first and made the singular choice that mattered to him. He picked up the gre*ade, held it against himself, and threw himself on top of it. The blast took his life instantly. The four soldiers next to him emerged without a scratch. Milton Olive III became the first African American Medal of Honor recipient during the Vietnam War. On April 21, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded the Medal of Honor to his father and stepmother at the White House. Among the crowd were two of the men whose lives he saved. Today, his legacy continues through Olive Park in Chicago, Olive Harvey College, a middle school in New York, and a memorial in his hometown of Lexington, Mississippi. He was just 18. His entire future lay ahead of him. He sacrificed it for four men he wouldn’t allow to d*e that day.

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