07/19/2025
On this day, 59 years ago, on July 18, 1966, Second Lieutenant John J. McGinty III, age 26, was serving as a platoon commander with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division during Operation Hastings in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. His unit had been inserted into a dense jungle region near the demilitarized zone to engage North Vietnamese Army forces operating in the area. On July 18, McGinty was leading his platoon as part of a battalion-size patrol when the unit became engaged in a major firefight following contact with an enemy force estimated at over 1,000 soldiers.
McGinty’s platoon was on a forward position when the enemy launched a coordinated assault at around 1530 hours. A large volume of small arms, automatic weapons fire, and grenades hit the Marines from concealed positions in the thick jungle. During the initial attack, two of McGinty's squads were cut off from the rest of the company and came under intense fire from all directions. McGinty moved forward through enemy fire to attempt to regain contact with the isolated elements. He found that more than 20 of his Marines had been killed or wounded. Despite incoming fire, he coordinated the evacuation of the wounded and organized a defensive perimeter under continuing assault.
At one point, McGinty took charge of two machine guns whose crews had been killed or incapacitated. He personally manned one of the guns and directed its fire at attacking North Vietnamese troops who were within 25 meters of his position. As the enemy launched a human wave assault through the dense vegetation, McGinty moved from position to position, exposing himself to fire, to direct his Marines and encourage their resistance.
When the enemy again pressed hard on the flanks, McGinty called for supporting arms and adjusted artillery and air strikes dangerously close to his own lines. As ammunition began to run low, he redistributed weapons and gear from the dead to the living, and he continued to fight alongside his men until the enemy was forced to withdraw after suffering heavy losses.
Throughout the engagement, which lasted for over four hours, McGinty demonstrated complete control of his platoon and inflicted significant casualties on a numerically superior enemy force while maintaining his position under extreme pressure.
John J. McGinty III was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson in a ceremony at the White House on March 12, 1968. He later retired from the Marine Corps with the rank of Captain. McGinty died on January 17, 2014, at the age of 73.
