Alejandro Renteria Ruiz was born and raised in New Mexico, the son of a Mexican immigrant who had been an officer in Pancho Villa’s army. In 1944, twenty-year-old Ruiz was driving to Texas to see his girlfriend when he got into a legal scrape. He went before a judge who gave him a choice between the Army and jail. Ruiz enlisted.
After training at Fort Bliss and Fort Ord, Private First Class Ruiz shipped out with the 165th Infantry. His unit landed on Okinawa in April 1945. On April 28, his company, exhausted from a series of engagements with Japanese troops in heavily fortified positions, was moving down into a deep ravine. The Japanese let his unit pass by a well-camouflaged pillbox before opening fire and lobbing grenades. As the Americans tried to find cover while Japanese grenades rained down on them, Ruiz saw his comrades falling all around him; after just a few minutes, only he and his squad leader had escaped injury.
Knowing that he needed more firepower than his rifle could offer, Ruiz grabbed a Browning Automatic Rifle and moved toward the pillbox. As he started to climb on top of it so he could open fire, the weapon jammed. At that moment, a Japanese soldier charged him; Ruiz clubbed him down, then tossed the rifle aside and ran back through the heavy fire to where his men were pinned down. Picking up another automatic rifle and grabbing some extra cans of ammunition, he headed back toward the pillbox while the Japanese machine gunners and riflemen were all concentrating their fire on him. Making it through the storm of bullets and grenades, he once again climbed on top of the emplacement and sent several bursts of fire through the aperture, killing the twelve soldiers inside and destroying the position.
Unscathed except for a minor flesh wound in the leg, Ruiz found a place to sit down after the battle and tried to light a cigarette with shaking hands. The men he had saved told him they were going to recommend him for the Medal of Honor. Ruiz didn’t think about it for the next several weeks as his unit continued the fight on Okinawa. It wasn’t until May 1946, when he was back in the United States, living in the married soldiers’ barracks, that he was told he was indeed to receive the medal. Ruiz’s wife, mother, and sister accompanied him to the White House, where President Harry Truman made the presentation on June 12, 1946.
Ruiz remained in the service for the next eighteen years. He saw action again in Korea and retired as a sergeant in 1964.
After training at Fort Bliss and Fort Ord, Private First Class Ruiz shipped out with the 165th Infantry. His unit landed on Okinawa in April 1945. On April 28, his company, exhausted from a series of engagements with Japanese troops in heavily fortified positions, was moving down into a deep ravine. The Japanese let his unit pass by a well-camouflaged pillbox before opening fire and lobbing grenades. As the Americans tried to find cover while Japanese grenades rained down on them, Ruiz saw his comrades falling all around him; after just a few minutes, only he and his squad leader had escaped injury.
Knowing that he needed more firepower than his rifle could offer, Ruiz grabbed a Browning Automatic Rifle and moved toward the pillbox. As he started to climb on top of it so he could open fire, the weapon jammed. At that moment, a Japanese soldier charged him; Ruiz clubbed him down, then tossed the rifle aside and ran back through the heavy fire to where his men were pinned down. Picking up another automatic rifle and grabbing some extra cans of ammunition, he headed back toward the pillbox while the Japanese machine gunners and riflemen were all concentrating their fire on him. Making it through the storm of bullets and grenades, he once again climbed on top of the emplacement and sent several bursts of fire through the aperture, killing the twelve soldiers inside and destroying the position.
Unscathed except for a minor flesh wound in the leg, Ruiz found a place to sit down after the battle and tried to light a cigarette with shaking hands. The men he had saved told him they were going to recommend him for the Medal of Honor. Ruiz didn’t think about it for the next several weeks as his unit continued the fight on Okinawa. It wasn’t until May 1946, when he was back in the United States, living in the married soldiers’ barracks, that he was told he was indeed to receive the medal. Ruiz’s wife, mother, and sister accompanied him to the White House, where President Harry Truman made the presentation on June 12, 1946.
Ruiz remained in the service for the next eighteen years. He saw action again in Korea and retired as a sergeant in 1964.
