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Episode 2736 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange, in her story, reported that A lot of U.S. service members may not have been born in America, but they’re just as willing to die for our ideals. Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. is a shining example of those who were willing to fight for their adopted country. His efforts to save his fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War earned him the Medal of Honor decades after his death.
Sabo was born in Kufstein, Austria, on Feb. 23, 1948, only a few years after World War II ended. His family fled to the United States when he was 2 to escape the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe. They moved to Ellwood City in western Pennsylvania, where Sabo grew up. Lange added this about Oscar Austin; he was born in Nacogdoches, Texas. His family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, when he was very young. He grew up there and graduated high school in 1967 before enlisting in the Marine Corps on April 22, 1968. A few months later, in October 1968, the newly promoted private first class was sent to Vietnam, where he served as an assistant machine gunner.
Sabo was known to many as being kindhearted, hardworking and dependable. He was working at a steel mill when he was drafted into the Army in 1969. After a few months of training, the 22-year-old was sent to Vietnam on Nov. 14, 1969, as part of the 506th Infantry in the famed 101st Airborne Division.
Listen to episode 2736 and discover more about Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.