Vietnam War Marine’s 1966 Heroism in Operation UTAH Spurs Renewed Medal of Honor Bid

LOS ANGELES – November 17, 2025 – Nearly six decades after Operation UTAH in Quảng Ngãi Province, Republic of Vietnam, supporters are intensifying efforts to upgrade retired Marine Sgt. Daniel L. “Danny” Hernandez’s 2009 Silver Star to the Medal of Honor. Hernandez, then a 19-year-old machine gunner with M Company, 3rd Battalion/1st Marines, braved heavy fire in March 1966 to rescue wounded comrades during the first major Marine engagement with a regimental-sized NVA force.

The campaign has gained fresh urgency following the April 2025 death of its lead advocate, Hubert Yoshida, a former platoon commander in the 7th Marines, who spent years assembling eyewitness accounts and formal documentation for the award upgrade.

Operation UTAH: A Turning Point in Quảng Ngãi

As Marines from Mike Company, 3/1 advanced across rice paddies during Operation UTAH, they encountered entrenched North Vietnamese forces in a bunker complex. By day’s end, Hernandez’s company had lost 17 Marines. Amid intense gunfire, Hernandez saw Private First Class Joel Rodriguez gravely wounded near the enemy position.

“Private First Class Hernandez, giving no thought to his own safety, fearlessly ran across an area of heavy enemy fire, picked up the wounded Marine, and carried him to safety.”

Shot in the back during the rescue, Hernandez refused evacuation, accepted quick treatment from a corpsman, and returned to the fight. Hearing cries from a group of wounded Marines while enemy soldiers advanced on them, he exposed himself to draw fire and, in a “furious exchange of gunfire”, stopped the attack.

“I started hearing ‘oh my God, help!’ from the MEDEVAC zone, and I see bullets shooting at the wounded. At that point, I made my peace with God and jumped back in. I just started running towards the enemy with my machine gun fully loaded. I was firing away, going at them while the enemy jumped back into the tunnel – and I followed them. Then the tunnel collapsed. I came out, but after that I didn’t have anything left in me.”

Later, while helping recover the dead and wounded, Hernandez was shot again, this time in the head. He reached a corpsman and was evacuated by helicopter.

“In the helicopter I was the only one alive. The blood of all the dead Marines was flowing out and got all over me. When they finally put me on an operating table they thought my injuries were even worse than they were because of all the blood. But it was everyone else’s blood.”

After medical care in Guam, Hernandez returned to Vietnam four months later and ultimately served 16 months overseas, including 12 months in combat.

Belated Recognition After Decades

Despite contemporaneous documentation, a misunderstanding and lost paperwork delayed Hernandez’s Silver Star for over 43 years. In 2009, he was formally awarded the Silver Star at a ceremony attended by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and presented by then-Maj. Gen. John Kelly.

“There’s a difference between action heroes in movies, and action heroes in real life. Danny is a real action hero,”

Schwarzenegger said at the event. Kelly’s remarks underscored the stakes of Hernandez’s actions:

“It takes a special person to know you have a ticket out of battle, and you still don’t take it. Those men would have died had it not been for Danny.”

Campaign to Upgrade to the Medal of Honor

A committee of advocates formed to seek an upgrade to the Medal of Honor, led by Hubert Yoshida, who gathered witness statements, coordinated with congressional offices, and pursued amendments required by the awards process. Before his passing in April 2025, Yoshida detailed his conclusion based on extensive research:

“In my research I came across many heroic acts which I documented from eye witness accounts and award citations. Danny’s action stood out as particularly courageous and I began to compare it with other higher awards that were given for similar actions in other battles in Vietnam, and came to the conclusion that Danny should be qualified for the highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

Hernandez credited fellow Marines and advocates for sustaining the effort:

“I don’t know how to explain it. Yoshida kept fighting for this while battling cancer. Men like Lieutenant Lupori and Hubert Yoshida kept their word. That’s the real story here. The people who want someone to have something and put the effort in.”

Service Beyond the Battlefield

In the years since Vietnam, Hernandez has remained active in community service in the greater Los Angeles area, including as CEO of the Hollenbeck Youth Center and founder of the Inner-City Games. Reflecting on Operation UTAH and his unit, he said:

“I did not own valor. Valor belongs to all those that fought in Operation Utah.”

Key Developments

• March 1966, Quảng Ngãi Province: Hernandez’s actions during Operation UTAH saved multiple Marines under heavy enemy fire.
• Wounded twice: Shot in the back and head; refused evacuation after the first wound and returned to the fight.
• Recognition delay: Silver Star awarded in 2009 after 43 years due to lost paperwork.
• Upgrade push: Committee led by Hubert Yoshida seeks Medal of Honor upgrade; Yoshida died in April 2025.

What’s Next

Supporters continue to press for an official upgrade of Hernandez’s Silver Star to the Medal of Honor, citing the battlefield record from Operation UTAH and corroborating statements collected over years. The committee advocating for Hernandez references ongoing outreach to military and congressional channels as part of the process.

For updates on the effort, supporters point to the committee dedicated to the upgrade of Sgt. Danny Hernandez.