James H. Monroe

Monroe, age 22 at his death, was buried at Wheaton Cemetery in Wheaton, Illinois. His family was formally presented with his Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the Pentagon on what would have been his twenty-fourth birthday, October 17, 1968. Monroe Middle School in Wheaton is named in his honor, and his medal is on display at the school.

Monroe was sent to Vietnam in November 1966 as a private first class serving as a medic in the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). On February 16, 1967, in Bồng Sơn, Hoài Nhơn District, South Vietnam, Monroe crossed through enemy fire to treat wounded soldiers and smothered the blast of a grenade with his body, sacrificing his own life to protect those around him.

Monroe was born in Aurora, Illinois, and attended Wheaton Central High School in nearby Wheaton, Illinois. He participated in football and the biology club before graduating in 1962. He then studied political science at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, but left before graduating and was drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1966.

James Howard Monroe (October 17, 1944 – February 16, 1967) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration of honor the Medal of Honor, for his actions as a combat medic in the Vietnam War.