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Medal of Honor Recipient

William Thomas Perkins Jr.

U.S. Marine Corps · Vietnam War

MOH-RC-002102Source-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: 1967

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

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Medal of Honor

October 12, 1967

Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam

Rank at action
Corporal
Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Conflict
Vietnam War
Unit or command
Company C, 1st 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 combat photographer attached to Company C. During Operation MEDINA, a major reconnaissance in force southwest of Quang Tri, Company C made heavy combat contact with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force estimated at from 2 to 3 companies. The focal point of the intense fighting was a helicopter landing zone which was also serving as the Command Post of Company C. In the course of a strong hostile attack, an enemy grenade landed in the immediate area occupied by Cpl. Perkins and 3 other marines. Realizing the inherent danger, he shouted the warning, "Incoming Grenade" to his fellow marines, and in a valiant act of heroism, hurled himself upon the grenade absorbing the impact of the explosion with his body, thereby saving the lives of his comrades at the cost of his life. Through his exceptional courage and inspiring valor in the face of certain death, Cpl. Perkins reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Sources & record notes

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

  1. William Thomas Perkins 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-002112
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Entered service at
San Francisco, Calif.
Archive transcription SHA-256
bf601bea455b3634e3615dac4754a26e4d8cd1b1ff4ad2363835fa9b2920323d

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

The canonical current reference profile was resolved through a controlled archival reference search outside the inherited candidate set after the inherited candidate slugs did not provide the verified profile. Every inherited candidate and failed URL remains preserved; candidate rank and HTTP behavior were not treated as verification. The current authoritative unit wording is Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF; the inherited unit Company C, 1st 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.

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