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Medal of Honor recipient Army Corporal Michael Crescenz
Congressional Medal of Honor
Episode 2827 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Army Corporal Michael Crescenz and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. Information featured in this episode appeared on WHYY and the book No Greater Love.
Michael Joseph Crescenz (January 14, 1949 – November 20, 1968) was a United States Army Corporal (Cpl) during the Vietnam War who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions near the Hiep Duc village of Vietnam on November 20, 1968.
Michael J. Crescenz was born in Philadelphia on January 14, 1949. He graduated from St. Athanasius School in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia in 1962 and from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1966. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1968. He shipped out to Vietnam in September 1968, the same month that his older brother Charles, a United States Marine who had served 13 months in Vietnam, was discharged from active duty.
Crescenz received a posthumous promotion to the rank of corporal. He was the only Philadelphian to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. He was survived by his parents and five brothers. His Medal of Honor was presented to his family by President Richard M. Nixon in a White House ceremony on April 7, 1970. To respect his parents’ wishes, Cpl. Crescenz was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. In 2008, after the death of his parents, Michael Crescenz was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center has been renamed the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz. An 8-foot tall bronze statue honoring Cpl. Crescenz is part of the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He is the only Philadelphian to receive the Medal of Honor for the Vietnam War.
Listen to episode 2827 and discover more about Army Corporal Michael Crescenz and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
