Larry L. Maxam

Larry Leonard Maxam
Larry Leonard Maxam
	1st Battalion 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Operation Kentucky †;
Awards	Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/ palm; Vietnam Campaign Medal

Larry Leonard Maxam (January 9, 1948 – February 2, 1968) was a

posthumously received the United States' highest military honor — the Medal of Honor — for heroism in the Vietnam War

in February 1968,

Biography

Larry Maxam was born on January 9, 1948, in Glendale, California. He attended Emerson Primary School, John Muir Junior High and Burbank High School, in Burbank, California, leaving the latter in 1964. Maxam was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in Los Angeles on March 8, 1965. After completing recruit training with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in June 1965, he served briefly with the Casual Section of the 2nd Infantry Training Regiment at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. He then completed individual combat training with Company A, at Camp Pendleton, in July 1965. From August 1965 until February 1966, he served with the Marine Aviation Detachment, Naval Air Technical Training Center Jacksonville.

Transferred to the

Lance Corporal

on January 1, 1967.

As a lance corporal, Maxam next served as a rifleman with Company F, Battalion Landing Team 2/8, in the Caribbean, until May 1967. In July 1967, he arrived in the

Quảng Trị Province

, Vietnam.

Maxam is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Oahu, Hawaii.^[1]

Awards and honors

Maxam's medals and decorations include:

Medal of Honor	Purple Heart	Navy Presidential Unit Citation	National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal w/ 2 service stars	Vietnam Military Merit Medal	Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/ palm	Vietnam Campaign Medal

The name Larry L. Maxam is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("The Wall") on Panel 36E, Row 078.^[2]

Medal of Honor citation

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

CORPORAL LARRY L. MAXAM
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Fire Team Leader with Company D,
hand grenades and directed recoilless rifle fire against him inflicting two additional wounds. Too weak to reload his machine gun, Corporal Maxam fell to a prone position and valiantly continued to deliver effective fire with his rifle. After one and a half hours, during which he was hit repeatedly by fragments from exploding grenades and concentrated small arms fire, he succumbed to his wounds, having successfully defended nearly one half of the perimeter single-handedly. Corporal Maxam's aggressive fighting spirit, inspiring valor and selfless devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service
. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

/S/ RICHARD M. NIXON