BAKERSFIELD, CA - President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor to a Bakersfield soldier killed action in the Vietnam War. Leonard Louis Alvarado was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross after his death, but that honor will be upgraded next month to the nation's highest honor. He was 21 when he died.
The change comes after a Congress ordered a review of wartime honors awarded to Hispanics and Jews in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The goal, according to a White House statement Friday, was "to ensure those deserving the Medal of Honor were not denied because of prejudice."
Based on that review, President Obama will award 24 Army veterans, including Alvarado, the Medal of Honor at the White House on March 18.
Alvarado is survived by a daughter, who lives in Bakersfield. He attended various local schools before joining the Army, according to Bakersfield High School teacher and local history expert Ken Hooper.
Alvarado was a Specialist Four serving as an infantry rifleman with Company D, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
He is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in northeast Bakersfield, a spokesman confirmed Friday afternoon.
He is only the second person from Kern County to receive the Medal of Honor. The other, Army Sgt. Larry Pierce of Taft, also was killed in Vietnam.
According to the citation that accompanied the Distinguished Service Cross awarded in 1969, Alvarado was killed protecting his squad from an attack by a much larger enemy force. As enemy soldiers threw grenades and satchel bombs at him, he held them back, allowing his comrades to withdraw to safety.
A posting on the Virtual Vietnam Veterans Wall, says, "I was Leonard's platoon leader beginning sometime in March of 1969 until his death on August 12th. I recommended him for the DSC based on his extraordinary actions that night.
"His actions in the face of the enemy were always extraordinary. He was already a legend in our outfit, as I learned shortly after I took over the platoon, and he was the only enlisted soldier to have a firebase named for him, "LZ Alvarado" (all the other firebase names were chosen randomly, much like hurricane names).
"He never hesitated to go in the path of danger, as if it was his calling.
"Early in the fight on the night of August 12th, he took his M60 machine gun and his ammo bearer and attacked the enemy unit that was attacking us, breaking up their attack and saving many lives, possibly including mine.
"When he was wounded, one of my sergeants and I went to pull him to safety and into the hands of our platoon medic. He was in our arms when he died, and I think we probably heard his last words."
The change comes after a Congress ordered a review of wartime honors awarded to Hispanics and Jews in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The goal, according to a White House statement Friday, was "to ensure those deserving the Medal of Honor were not denied because of prejudice."
Based on that review, President Obama will award 24 Army veterans, including Alvarado, the Medal of Honor at the White House on March 18.
Alvarado is survived by a daughter, who lives in Bakersfield. He attended various local schools before joining the Army, according to Bakersfield High School teacher and local history expert Ken Hooper.
Alvarado was a Specialist Four serving as an infantry rifleman with Company D, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
He is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in northeast Bakersfield, a spokesman confirmed Friday afternoon.
He is only the second person from Kern County to receive the Medal of Honor. The other, Army Sgt. Larry Pierce of Taft, also was killed in Vietnam.
According to the citation that accompanied the Distinguished Service Cross awarded in 1969, Alvarado was killed protecting his squad from an attack by a much larger enemy force. As enemy soldiers threw grenades and satchel bombs at him, he held them back, allowing his comrades to withdraw to safety.
A posting on the Virtual Vietnam Veterans Wall, says, "I was Leonard's platoon leader beginning sometime in March of 1969 until his death on August 12th. I recommended him for the DSC based on his extraordinary actions that night.
"His actions in the face of the enemy were always extraordinary. He was already a legend in our outfit, as I learned shortly after I took over the platoon, and he was the only enlisted soldier to have a firebase named for him, "LZ Alvarado" (all the other firebase names were chosen randomly, much like hurricane names).
"He never hesitated to go in the path of danger, as if it was his calling.
"Early in the fight on the night of August 12th, he took his M60 machine gun and his ammo bearer and attacked the enemy unit that was attacking us, breaking up their attack and saving many lives, possibly including mine.
"When he was wounded, one of my sergeants and I went to pull him to safety and into the hands of our platoon medic. He was in our arms when he died, and I think we probably heard his last words."