Richard Allen Penry (November 18, 1948 – May 9, 1994) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

—for his actions in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Biography

Born in

Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, Penry joined the Army from

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

in March 1969, and by January 31, 1970, was serving as a

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in Company C, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment,

199th Infantry Brigade The 199th Infantry Brigade (Light) is a unit of the United States Army which served in the Army Reserve from 1921 to 1940, in the active army from 1966 to 1970 (serving in the Vietnam War), briefly in 1991–1992 at Fort Lewis, and from 2007 as ...

. On that day, in Binh Tuy Province of the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

, his unit came under an intense enemy attack. After the

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

commander was wounded, Penry helped organize the defense of the area and repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to retrieve supplies and return fire. He was honorably discharged from the Army in March 1971. In the 1970s, Penry was arrested for selling cocaine to an undercover agent. He was placed on parole in 1974, the judge stated that Penry had "done more for his country in one day than most do in a lifetime." Penry was arrested again in 1976 and put on probation. Penry suffered from

Lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

and died at age 45 of cancer. He was buried in Cypress Hill Memorial Park in Petaluma. Penry has two namesakes in his hometown: a park that was renamed in his honor, and a small military museum, the Sgt. Richard Penry Medal of Honor Memorial Military Museum, where his Medal of Honor is displayed. In April, 2025, California Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

pardoned Penry posthumously of state charges. As of April, 2025, Penry still held a federal conviction.

Medal of Honor citation

Awards and decorations

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penry, Richard A. 1948 births 1994 deaths People from Petaluma, California United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Military personnel from California Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) United States Army soldiers Recipients of the Air Medal Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

Awards and decorations

See also

Sources

References