Terry Teruo Kawamura
United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1949–1969)
Terry Teruo Kawamura (Japanese: 河村 昭男, December 10, 1949 – March 20, 1969) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War.
Vietnam War military service and death
Terry Kawamura joined the Army in Oahu, Hawaii in 1968, and by March 20, 1969, was serving as a corporal in the 173rd Engineer Company, 173rd Airborne Brigade. On that day, at Camp Radcliff, Republic of Vietnam, Kawamura smothered an enemy-thrown explosive with his body, sacrificing his life to protect those around him. Terry Kawamura, aged 19 at his death, was buried in Mililani Memorial Park, Mililani, Hawaii.
Medal of Honor citation
Corporal Kawamura's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Cpl. Kawamura distinguished himself by heroic action while serving as a member of the 173d Engineer Company. An enemy demolition team infiltrated the unit quarters area and opened fire with automatic weapons. Disregarding the intense fire, Cpl. Kawamura ran for his weapon.
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This entry incorporates text from “Terry Teruo Kawamura” 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.