Hometown: Interlachen, FL
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Unit: Company C, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division
Military Honors: Medal of Honor, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: March 5, 1969 - KIA in Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam 
Age: 21
Conflict: Vietnam War, 1959-1975

Robert Jenkins Jr. grew up in the hot, humid summers and mild winters of Interlachen, Florida, a half hour’s drive to the east of Gainesville. At the time, Interlachen was a rural community of just a few hundred people.

The Jenkins family was close-knit. Robert’s father and mother, Robert Sr. and Willie Mae, had five children. Robert Jr. attended Oak Grove Elementary School and graduated from Palatka Central Academy, an all-black high school, with the class of 1967.

He was known in his community as a good student, a hard worker, and he had a talent for woodworking and masonry. Just out of high school, Jenkins enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on February 2, 1968—at the height of America’s involvement in Vietnam. According to his mother, Jenkins intended to have a career as a Marines.

His training began at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. By April 1, 1968, Jenkins was promoted to private first class.

From there, Jenkins was transferred to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for two months of individual combat training and infantry special training.

By July 1968—five months after enlisting—PFC Jenkins was sent to Vietnam, assigned to Headquarters and Service Company, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division. He was later reassigned as a scout and driver with Company C.

According to the U.S. Department of War:

During the several months that he was in Vietnam, a lot of defensive battles broke out for control of U.S. Marine fire control support bases on or near the demilitarized zone, which split the north from the south. So, he was eventually assigned as a machine gunner with the battalion’s Company C.

In the early morning hours of March 5, 1969, PFC Jenkins was part of a 12-man reconnaissance team tasked with defending Fire Support Base Argonne, located northwest of Khe Sanh in Vietnam’s Quảng Trị Province.

When an enemy North Vietnamese Army (NVA) platoon attacked, PFC Jenkins and PFC Fred Ostrom were in a defensive position together in a ditch. What occurred next would earn Jenkins the nation’s highest military recognition—the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Company C, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces.

Early in the morning PFC Jenkins’ 12-man reconnaissance team was occupying a defensive position at Fire Support Base Argonne south of the Demilitarized Zone. Suddenly, the marines were assaulted by a North Vietnamese Army platoon employing mortars, automatic weapons, and hand grenades.

Reacting instantly, PFC Jenkins and another marine quickly moved into a two-man fighting emplacement, and as they boldly delivered accurate machine-gun fire against the enemy, a North Vietnamese soldier threw a hand grenade into the friendly emplacement.

Fully realizing the inevitable results of his actions, PFC Jenkins quickly seized his comrade, and pushing the man to the ground, he leaped on top of the marine to shield him from the explosion. Absorbing the full impact of the detonation, PFC Jenkins was seriously injured and subsequently succumbed to his wounds.

His courage, inspiring valor, and selfless devotion to duty saved a fellow marine from serious injury or possible death and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Lost at age 20, PFC Robert H. Jenkins Jr. was laid to rest in his hometown. He is honored at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., where his name is inscribed on Panel 30W, Line 46.

Nearly three decades after his death, PFC Jenkins’ grave site had been badly neglected. A small group of people came together to restore and improve Jenkins’ memorial. The effort was led by Fred Ostrom, the man Jenkins had saved.

“I want them to know Robert Jenkins was a good man,” Ostrom told the Tampa Bay Times.

Sources
Marine Corps University: Private First Class Robert H. Jenkins, USMC (Deceased)
U.S. Department of War—Medal of Honor Monday: Marine Corps Pfc. Robert Jenkins Jr.
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Robert Henry Jenkins Jr
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund—The Wall of Faces: Robert Henry Jenkins Jr
Honor States: Robert Henry Jenkins Jr
Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 12, 1996: Small town pays honor to fallen veteran
Burial Site: Find a Grave

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