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Harvey C. Barnum Jr. Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.
Episode 2456 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Marine Vietnam Vet Harvey C. Barnum and his CMH. The interest in Barnum’s story was stirred by the interview with Ivo Alvarez about his service as a Marine in Vietnam and a police officer in Miami, Florida that appeared in Episode 2454.
During his interview, Ivo described the big battles of Operation Harvest Moon that took place December 8 to 20, 1965 south of Da Nang in the Que Son Valley. His Marine unit was engaged in deadly combat with the communists in the Operation.
During his description of the battles, he mentioned an officer by the name of Barnum who dove into the battle and as a result of his heroic actions was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. That one mention of the heroic officer piqued the curiosity of your podcaster.
Who is Harvey C. Barnum? Harvey Curtiss Barnum Jr. (born July 21, 1940) is a former United States Marine Corps officer who received the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 after more than 27 years of service. Barnum served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs from July 23, 2001 to January 20, 2009. He also served as Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from January 21 to April 30, 2009.
During Operation Harvest Moon, Barnum would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 18, 1965 — for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty”. He had taken over command of a rifle company when its commander has been killed in action, and reorganized it for defense and successful evacuation after destroying the enemy.
Harvey Barnum and Ivo Alvarez are tremendous representatives of the great Vietnam Veteran Generation.
Listen to episode 2456 and discover more about Marine Vietnam Vet Harvey C. Barnum and his CMH.
