TRACKPADS Armored in facts. Driven by stories.

The Trackpads collection

FIND YOUR NEXT DISCOVERY.

Search the people, battles, citations, stories, books and audio behind military history.

Type at least two letters or numbers.Full search & filters

Medal of Honor Recipient

Emilio Albert de la Garza Jr.

U.S. Marine Corps · Vietnam War

MOH-RC-002017Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: Navy design with a neck ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Navy Medal of HonorAction-era reference: 1970

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Presentation date is not usable for design selection. This is an action-era reference; a later presentation or replacement medal may differ.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Medal of Honor

April 11, 1970

near Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam

Rank at action
Lance Corporal
Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Conflict
Vietnam War
Unit or command
Company E, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF

The Citation

Sources ↓
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Company E. Returning with his squad from a night ambush operation, L/Cpl. De La Garza joined his platoon commander and another marine in searching for 2 enemy soldiers who had been observed fleeing for cover toward a small pond. Moments later, he located 1 of the enemy soldiers hiding among the reeds and brush. As the 3 marines attempted to remove the resisting soldier from the pond, L/Cpl. De La Garza observed him pull the pin on a grenade. Shouting a warning, L/Cpl. De La Garza placed himself between the other 2 marines and the ensuing blast from the grenade, thereby saving the lives of his comrades at the sacrifice of his life. By his prompt and decisive action, and his great personal valor in the face of almost certain death, L/Cpl. De La Garza upheld and further enhanced the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. Emilio Albert de la Garza Jr. — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-002027
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Entered service at
Chicago, Ill.
Archive transcription SHA-256
10088c5b6c9fc29476b502f18e16b9d31528e6582a7a8af68e921d336849c2d8

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The current authoritative source expands or normalizes the inherited name from Emilio A. De La Garza Jr. to Emilio Albert de la Garza Jr.; both renderings remain preserved. The current authoritative unit wording is Company E, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF; the inherited unit Company E, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division remains preserved as a source variant. The current historical action-place wording replaces only the controlled canonical geocoder field; the complete inherited place remains preserved. The current authoritative profile classifies the action under Vietnam War; the inherited Not yet classified value remains preserved in the audit record.

Continue Across Trackpads

FOLLOW THE SUBJECT.