Rodolfo Hernandez’ Medal of Honor moment immortalized

Rodolfo Hernandez earned the Medal of Honor in Korea on May 31st, 1951. His citation reads;

Cpl. Hernandez, a member of Company G, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. His platoon, in defensive positions on Hill 420, came under ruthless attack by a numerically superior and fanatical hostile force, accompanied by heavy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire which inflicted numerous casualties on the platoon. His comrades were forced to withdraw due to lack of ammunition but Cpl. Hernandez, although wounded in an exchange of grenades, continued to deliver deadly fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants until a ruptured cartridge rendered his rifle inoperative. Immediately leaving his position, Cpl. Hernandez rushed the enemy armed only with rifle and bayonet. Fearlessly engaging the foe, he killed 6 of the enemy before falling unconscious from grenade, bayonet, and bullet wounds but his heroic action momentarily halted the enemy advance and enabled his unit to counterattack and retake the lost ground.

Hernandez survived his wounds that day until last December, when he passed at the age of 82. Now the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, NC will have a display commemorating that night, according to the Army Times;

The museum’s diorama shows him shoving a bayonet into an enemy soldier’s chest while the other five enemy troops he killed lie crumpled at his feet. It’s a detailed display, but no one has objected to the level of violence it exhibits, said the museum’s director, Jim Bartlinski.

[…]

Before he died, Hernandez made several suggestions about how much gore to show, Bartlinski said.

“He said ‘we need more blood,’ so we were making little notes: ‘Okay, we’re going to put more blood here’ ” Bartlinski said. “He was bayoneted through the arm; he was shot in the hip and the leg and so we so also indicated those wounds on the mannequin. We wanted to be true to his wishes and to make it as accurate as we could but, then again, we don’t want to make it too graphic.”

Category: Real Soldiers