Medal of Honor Monday: Marine Corps Pfc. Ronald Leroy Coker

During conflict, the last thing many selfless warriors have done is shield their comrades from grenade explosions using their own bodies. Marine Corps Pfc. Ronald Leroy Coker was one of them, but amazingly, that didn’t stop him from continuing to drag a wounded man to safety. His courage through horrific pain inspired his fellow Marines, and it led him to receive a posthumous Medal of Honor.

Coker was born Aug. 9, 1947, in Alliance, Nebraska, to Cecil and Nellie Coker, who raised their family on a 160-acre farm. Coker had two brothers, Charlie and Ray, and a sister named Janet.

After graduating from Alliance High School in 1965, Coker attended an automotive school in Denver, where he completed a mechanic training program in 1966. Sadly, that same year, his mother died.

As a young man, Coker was known for his quiet intelligence. Standing 6 feet, 3 inches tall, he was lean, liked to do things with his hands and always wore a black cowboy hat, according to a profile of him published in the 2013 Omaha, Nebraska, World-Herald newspaper.

In January 1968, Coker was working as a well driller in Alliance when he was drafted. He wanted a say in where he would end up, though, so three months later, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

By September 1968, Coker had completed all of his training and was sent to join a staging company that would prepare him to deploy to Vietnam, where the war was raging.

When Coker arrived in-country that November, he was assigned as a rifleman to Company M of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, which was sent to the embattled Quang Tri Province along the north-central coast of South Vietnam. The company was tasked with patrolling the jungles south of the demilitarized zone to keep northern combatants from infiltrating the area.

On March 24, 1969, Coker was leading his platoon’s patrol when he came across five enemy soldiers on a narrow jungle trail. The whole squad quickly chased the combatants, who had hidden in a cave.

As the squad moved closer to the cave’s entrance, they came under intense enemy fire, which seriously wounded Marine Corps Cpl. Ronald Playford, forcing everyone else to take cover. Playford was left suffering out in the open, so Coker ignored his own peril and ran back into the fire-strewn area to try to collect him.

Along the way, Coker was wounded in the chest and throat, but he continued to crawl toward his comrade, eventually lobbing a hand grenade toward the enemy’s position to quiet their fire long enough to get to Playford.

As Coker began dragging the injured man to safety, a grenade landed squarely on top of Playford. Without hesitation, Coker grabbed it with both hands and turned to throw it. Unfortunately, before he could, it exploded. Witnesses said the explosion severed both of Coker’s hands at the wrists.

Shockingly, Coker kept going. Refusing to abandon Playford, he used what was left of his arms to pull Playford along from his cartridge belt. As they moved toward friendly lines, two more enemy grenades exploded near Coker, inflicting even more devastating injuries to his chest, face and legs.

With every ounce of strength he had left, Coker continued to pull Playford toward safety until another Marine was close enough to grab them both and pull them to cover.

Coker’s valor inspired his fellow Marines so much that they eventually annihilated the enemy hiding in the cave.

Unfortunately, both Coker and Playford died almost as soon as they were pulled to safety.

“I saw a lot of brave acts in Vietnam, and I saw a lot of people die for their country,” Marine Corps Pfc. Jimmy Murphy, who was with Coker during the incident, told the Omaha World-Herald. “This was the bravest act I witnessed.”

Several of Coker’s comrades who witnessed his selflessness nominated him for the Medal of Honor. On April 20, 1970, Coker’s father and siblings received the nation’s highest honor for valor on his behalf from Vice President Spiro Agnew during a White House ceremony.

Coker is buried in Alliance’s Fairview Cemetery, next to his mother.

The fallen hero’s father kept the medal, but sadly, Cecil Coker died in 1972 during a flash flood of his new home in Rapid City, South Dakota. The flood swept the house off its foundation, and the medal was lost, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The newspaper said one of Coker’s brothers later received a replacement medal that the family now keeps in storage for safekeeping.  

This article is part of a weekly series called “Medal of Honor Monday,” in which we highlight one of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients who have received the U.S. military’s highest medal for valor.