Oscar Palmer Austin (1948 - 1969)

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Military Honors 2 Sources 3 Acknowledgments

Biography

Oscar Palmer Austin, U.S.M.C. posthumously received his nation's highest military honor — the Medal of Honor — for heroism and the sacrifice of his own life in Vietnam in February 1969.^[1]

He was born on 15 January 1948 in Nacogdoches, Texas, USA, to Frank Austin and his wife, Mildred Colston.^[2] His family moved to Arizona when he was young. He attended Booker T. Washington Elementary School and Phoenix Union High School in Phoenix, Arizona.^[1]

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 22 April 1968; he received basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, completed field and combat training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California in August, and infantry training there in September 1968. He was promoted to Private 1st Class on 1 October 1968, two weeks before he was sent to Vietnam.^[1] His tour of duty began on 15 October 1968, when he was transferred to South Viet Nam. There he served as ammunitions man with E Co. 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. On the morning of February 23, 1969 they were just west of Da Nang when they came under heavy fire by a North Vietnamese force.^[1]

Private First Class Austin died of multiple fragment wounds on 23 February 1969 in Quang Nam, Vietnam. He was twenty-one years old and unmarried.^[3][4] He was buried with full military honors in Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona,^[5] and his name is memorialized on the Wall of Names at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.^[6]

The USS Oscar Austin, a United States guided missle destroyer (DDG-79), was named in his honor.

Military Honors

• Purple Heart
• Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously

Citation for Medal of Honor:

Medal of Honor.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an assistant machine gunner with Company E, in connection with operations against enemy forces. During the early morning hours Pfc. Austin's observation post was subjected to a fierce ground attack by a large North Vietnamese Army force supported by a heavy volume of hand grenades, satchel charges, and small arms fire. Observing that one of his wounded companions had fallen unconscious in a position dangerously exposed to the hostile fire, Pfc. Austin unhesitatingly left the relative security of his fighting hole and, with complete disregard for his safety, raced across the fire-swept terrain to assist the marine to a covered location. As he neared the casualty, he observed an enemy grenade land nearby and, reacting instantly, leaped between the injured marine and the lethal object, absorbing the effects of its detonation. As he ignored his painful injuries and turned to examine the wounded man, he saw a North Vietnamese Army soldier aiming a weapon at his unconscious companion. With full knowledge of the probable consequences and thinking only to protect the marine, Pfc. Austin resolutely threw himself between the casualty and the hostile soldier, and, in doing, was mortally wounded. Pfc. Austin's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Wikipedia contributors, "Oscar P. Austin," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oscar_P._Austin&oldid=1070526513 (accessed February 18, 2022).
2. ↑ "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VDPD-G1L : 1 January 2015), Oscar Palma Austin, 15 Jan 1948; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.
3. ↑ "United States Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXZ4-K44 : 12 December 2014), Oscar Palmer Austin, NARA NAID 306742, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
4. ↑ Combat Area Casualties Current File, 6/6/1956-1/21/1998 [Archival Database]; Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam Conflict, 1/20/1967-12/1998; Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (oscar-palmer-austin : accessed 18 February 2022), memorial page for Oscar Palmer Austin (15 Jan 1948–23 Feb 1969), Find A Grave: Memorial #9746, citing Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA; Maintained by Find a Grav .
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (/oscar-palmer-austin : accessed 18 February 2022), memorial page for PFC Oscar Palmer Austin (15 Jan 1948–23 Feb 1969), Find A Grave: Memorial #228361498, citing National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington DC, District of Columbia, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
7. ↑ "PFC Oscar P. Austin, Medal of Honor, 1969, 2/7/1, Vietnam (Medal of Honor citation)," Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor, United States Marine Corps. https://web.archive.org/web/19990921045958/http://www.usmc.mil/moh.nsf/000003c919889c0385255f980058f5b6/000003c919889c0385255f98005d1e58?OpenDocument Archived from the original on September 21, 1999. Retrieved March 22, 2006.

See also:

• Congressional Medal of Honor Society
• Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 17 Dec 2022
• Congressional Medal of Honor Society, retrieved 17 Dec 2022

Acknowledgments

• Darlene Scott Kerr created Austin-7182 on 13 May 2017, added bio, photos, sources.
• Thank you for the help received from his niece, Patrina.