Robert R. Ingram
Hospital Corpsman Third Class, U.S. Navy
Medal of Honor Recipient
Vietnam War

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Robert R. Ingram is a retired U.S. Navy sailor and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Robert R. Ingram was born 20 January 1945, at Clearwater, FL. He joined the Navy at Coral Gables, FL, in 1963. On 28 March 1966, he had been serving for eight months as a Hospital Corpsman Third Class attached to Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Charlie 1/7). During a firefight that day in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam, Ingram continued to treat wounded Marines even after being seriously wounded himself. For his heroic action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Corpsman with Company C, First Battalion, Seventh Marines against elements of a North Vietnam Aggressor (NVA) battalion in Quang Ngai Province Republic of Vietnam on 28 March 1966. Petty Officer Ingram accompanied the point platoon as it aggressively dispatched an outpost of an NVA battalion. The momentum of the attack rolled off a ridge line down a tree covered slope to a small paddy and a village beyond. Suddenly, the village tree line exploded with an intense hail of automatic rifle fire from approximately 100 North Vietnamese regulars. In mere moments, the platoon ranks were decimated. Oblivious to the danger, Petty Officer Ingram crawled across the bullet spattered terrain to reach a downed Marine. As he administered aid, a bullet went through the palm of his hand. Calls for "CORPSMAN" echoed across the ridge. Bleeding, he edged across the fire swept landscape, collecting ammunition from the dead and administering aid to the wounded. Receiving two more wounds before realizing the third wound was life-threatening, he looked for a way off the face of the ridge, but again he heard the call for corpsman and again, he resolutely answered. Though severely wounded three times, he rendered aid to those incapable until he finally reached the right flank of the platoon. While dressing the head wound of another corpsman, he sustained his fourth bullet wound. From sixteen hundred hours until just prior to sunset, Petty Officer Ingram pushed, pulled, cajoled, and doctored his Marines. Enduring the pain from his many wounds and disregarding the probability of his demise, Petty Officer Ingram's intrepid actions saved many lives that day. By his indomitable fighting spirit, daring initiative, and unfaltering dedications to duty, Petty Officer Ingram reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Ingram's Medal of Honor was awarded on 10 July 1998 by President Bill Clinton during a ceremony at the White House, alongside twenty-four of the men he served with. The delay in the award, made more than thirty years after the battle, was attributed to lost paperwork.