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Marine Corps Lt. Harvey C. “Barney” Barnum Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
Marine Corps Cpl. Patrick Iacunato and 1st Lt. Harvey C. “Barney” Barnum Jr. pose for a photo while serving in Vietnam.
Episode 2751 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Marine Corps Col. Harvey Barnum 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: Marine Corps Col. Harvey Barnum Jr. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.
Lange, in her story, reported that Marine Corps Col. Harvey Curtiss Barnum Jr. barely had time to adjust to Vietnam as a young lieutenant before he found himself commanding a company in the middle of an enemy ambush. Barnum’s calm demeanor and swift decisions helped stabilize his badly damaged unit, and they earned him the Medal of Honor.
Lange added this about Harvey M. Barnum, Jr., he was born July 21, 1940, in Cheshire, Connecticut, to parents Harvey and Ann Barnum. During an interview later in life, Barnum said he and his younger brother, Henry, were fortunate that their parents were both very involved in their upbringing, which is likely where his understanding and love of discipline began.
After graduating high school in 1958, Barnum went to St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he joined the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class, a summer program similar to ROTC. Four years later, he graduated with a degree in economics and was commissioned into the Marine Corps Reserve.
After training, Barnum was sent to serve with the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan, before being stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in early 1965. Later that year, his unit was ordered to go to Vietnam on a temporary deployment, and the first shipment of Marines was slated to leave prior to the holidays. Barnum said that because he was single and most of his fellow Marines weren’t, he volunteered to go.
Listen to episode 2751 and discover more about Marine Corps Col. Harvey Barnum Jr.and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
