John G. Gertsch
United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1944-1969)
John Gary Gertsch (September 29, 1944 or 1945 – July 19, 1969) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War.
Biography
John G. Gertsch went to high school in Sheffield Area Middle/Senior High School (SAMSHS) in Sheffield, Pennsylvania. Gertsch joined the Army from Buffalo, New York in 1965, and by July 15, 1969, was serving as a staff sergeant in Company E, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. During a series of engagements on that day and the four following days, in the A Shau Valley of the Republic of Vietnam, Gertsch commanded his platoon after their leader was wounded and repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to rescue wounded soldiers and attack the enemy. Mortally wounded on July 19, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in September 1974.
Gertsch, aged 23 or 24 at his death, was buried in North Side Catholic Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Medal of Honor citation
Staff Sergeant Gertsch's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
S/Sgt. Gertsch distinguished himself while serving as a platoon sergeant and platoon leader during combat operations in the A Shau Valley. During the initial phase of an operation to seize a strongly defended enemy position, S/Sgt. Gertsch's platoon leader was seriously wounded and lay exposed to intense enemy fire.
“John G. Gertsch” enters the record as united States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1944-1969). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what John, Gertsch and United can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6234501. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1944, 1945, 1969 and 1965.
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This entry incorporates text from “John G. Gertsch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.