The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Troopers of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, watch a UH-1D land, March 1970.
Troopers of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, watch a UH-1D land, March 1970. Photo: U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Glenn Harry English JR.

The Wall › Panel 7W › Pennsylvania › Glenn Harry English JR

Glenn Harry English JR

GLENN HARRY ENGLISH JR

Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army

April 23, 1940 – September 7, 1970

Medal of Honor Story

Portrait: US Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Glenn Harry English JR, of Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on September 7, 1970, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 7W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Medal of Honor · awarded posthumously

For conspicuous gallantry

Glenn Harry English JR received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his actions on September 7, 1970. The official citation reads:

Staff Sergeant English's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

S/Sgt. English was riding in the lead armored personnel carrier in a 4-vehicle column when an enemy mine exploded in front of his vehicle. As the vehicle swerved from the road, a concealed enemy force waiting in ambush opened fire with automatic weapons and anti-tank grenades, striking the vehicle several times and setting it on fire. S/Sgt. English escaped from the disabled vehicle and, without pausing to extinguish the flames on his clothing, rallied his stunned unit. He then led it in a vigorous assault, in the face of heavy enemy automatic weapons fire, on the entrenched enemy position. This prompt and courageous action routed the enemy and saved his unit from destruction. Following the assault, S/Sgt. English heard the cries of 3 men still trapped inside the vehicle. Paying no heed to warnings that the ammunition and fuel in the burning personnel carrier might explode at any moment, S/Sgt. English raced to the vehicle and climbed inside to rescue his wounded comrades. As he was lifting 1 of the men to safety, the vehicle exploded, mortally wounding him and the man he was attempting to save. By his extraordinary devotion to duty, indomitable courage, and utter disregard for his own safety, S/Sgt. English saved his unit from destruction and selflessly sacrificed his life in a brave attempt to save 3 comrades. S/Sgt. English's conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the cost of his life were an inspiration to his comrades and are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

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Citation text as reproduced in Wikipedia’s article on Glenn Harry English JR; Medal of Honor citations are official U.S. government records. See also the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and all Medal of Honor recipients on the Wall.

On the Wall

Panel 7W · Line 44

Position of Panel 7W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.

Remember

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Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
Staff Sergeant (SSG)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
Unit (as recorded)
173 AIRBORNE BDE
Born
April 23, 1940
Home of record
Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania (Bucks County)

Casualty

Date of death
September 7, 1970
Age
30
Province
Binh Dinh
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Unknown

Context · from the records

What was happening

11 names on the Wall carry the date September 7, 1970; five of them were lost in Bình Định Province. In September 1970, 364 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 30 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 7W, Line 44

Same unit, same day

From Cornwells Heights

Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. The Medal of Honor citation above is the official account of his actions. See something wrong? Report a correction.