First Sergeant Maximo Yabes born in Lodi, California, was a United States Army soldier who posthumously received the Medal of Honor — the United States' highest military decoration — for his actions near Phu Hoa Dong in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Yabes distinguished himself when he used his body as a shield to protect others in a bunker, moved two wounded men to a safer position where they could be given medical treatment and destroyed an enemy machine gun position before being mortally wounded.
By 1967, Yabes was a First Sergeant with a total of 17 years in the Army. He was assigned to Company A, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, of the 25th Infantry Division in South Vietnam. The division had been stationed at Củ Chi Base Camp, northwest of Saigon since January 1966. Yabes' company — Alpha Company — was assigned to protect a squad of Army engineers whose assignment was to bulldoze a swath between the village and a plantation. The objective of this assignment was to deny the enemy ambushers and snipers the protective cover of the lush jungles. On February 26, 1967, waves of Vietcong, attacked Company A's position, blowing whistles and laying down deadly automatic weapons fire. The Vietcong, who penetrated the barbed wire perimeter, hurled grenades towards the command bunker. Yabes ran inside the bunker and covered its occupants with his body, all the while receiving wounds from numerous grenade fragments. Yabes then moved to another bunker and with a grenade launcher fired upon the enemy, halting a further penetration of the perimeter. Yabes then assisted two fallen comrades before he noticed an enemy machinegun within the perimeter which threatened the whole position. Yabes then proceeded to attack the enemy machine gun crew. He was able to kill the entire crew before falling mortally wounded. 24 American soldiers and over 113 Vietcong were killed in the attack. Secretary of the Army, Stanley Resor, presented Yabes' wife and children with the Medal of Honor in a ceremony held at the Pentagon in October 1968.
Medal of Honor citation
MAXIMO YABES
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division.
First Sergeant Maximo Yabes was buried with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Dozens of individuals, businesses and organizations in Oakridge, Oregon, donated time, money, labor and supplies to build a memorial to honor Yabes. They hired sculptor Tim Outman to create the memorial which features a fountain, a flag pole and a bronze bust with the likeness of Yabes set on a granite pedestal. Engraved on the base are the details of Yabes' Medal of Honor exploits. The memorial is located in Oakridge in the Greenwaters Park. Greenwaters Park is located on the east side of Oakridge, south of highway 58. The city of El Paso, Texas also honored Yabes by naming an avenue after him. His name can be found on panel 15E, line 102 of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Awards and recognitions
Among Maximo Yabes' decorations and medals were the following:
