Lance Corporal Jedh Colby Barker
When you hear the whole story, it is no surprise that Jedh Colby Barker is a recipient of the Medal of Honor as a United States Marine.
After all, his father was an award winning Marine during World War II. JEDH….designed by his parents for a very special reason. It is comprised of the first initials of his father’s best Marine buddies during that war… John, Ezekiel, Don and Herbert, the four men who fought alongside his father and were so close he and his wife wanted their names are memorialized in the name of his son. Jedh’s brother was also a Marine, a Major, who also served in Vietnam And Jedh himself rejected the Corps’ offer to be excused, since his brother was already there.
Early Years
But in reading Jedh’s growing up years, anyone would know from the very beginning he was Marine worthy, Marine dedicated, and Marine all the way in his ardor for the nation and his dedication to go where called.
Born in Franklin, New Hampshire, Jedh was six when the family moved to Park Ridge, New Jersey. During his high school years, he was known as an outstanding athlete, a teenager who stood for value, discipline, and doing the best he could. His high school yearbook showed he was a typical teenager in spite of all that. He was a teenager who loved having fun. The yearbook described him as their most athletic senior…he was co-captain of the football team he had served on all his high school years.
He was also handsome, “a ladies man,” the yearbook said, and a kid who loved having a good time. He also excelled on the baseball field, but football was his first love. Jedh Barker graduated from Park Ridge in 1964, went on to two years of college and while enrolled there, joined the Marine Reserves. That was June 1966; in October he left the Reserves to join the active Corps.
United States Marine Corps
After boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, Jedh also served with the Marine Air Base Squadron 21 in San Francisco, then was transferred as a machine gunner with Company F and went to Vietnam.
His brother was a Major in Vietnam at the time, and his commanding officer made it possible for the brothers to meet…three months later, Lance Corporal Jedh Barker was killed near Con Thein, Vietnam.
At the time of his death, the people in Park Ridge remembered him from his growing up and high school years and spoke not only of their grief at hearing of his death, but also that they were not surprised he was a leader and a hero. They knew him as a man who took leadership in his stride, who knew the right thing and would always do it…they remembered him on the gridiron, in the town, wherever. He was Jedh Colby Barker, a born leader.
Lance Cpl. Barker was serving with Company F,2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division (REIN) FM, on Sept. 21, 1967. When his gallantry earned him the Medal and cost his life. That was Sept. 21, 1967.
The citation on his Medal of Honor reads:
CITATION
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Company F. During a reconnaissance operation L/Cpl. Barker’s squad was suddenly hit by enemy sniper fire. The squad immediately deployed to a combat formation and advanced to a strongly fortified enemy position, when it was again struck by small-arms and automatic-weapons fire, sustaining numerous casualties.
Although wounded by the initial burst of fire, L/Cpl. Barker boldly remained in the open, delivering a devastating volume of accurate fire on the numerically superior force. The enemy was intent upon annihilating the small marine force and, realizing that LCpl. Barker was a threat to their position, directed the preponderance of their fire on his position. He was again wounded, this time in the right hand, which prevented him from operating his vitally needed machine gun. Suddenly and without warning, an enemy grenade landed in the midst of the few surviving marines. Unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his personal safety, L/Cpl. Barker threw himself upon the deadly grenade, absorbing with his body the full and tremendous force of the explosion. In a final act of bravery, he crawled to the side of a wounded comrade and administered first aid before succumbing to his grievous wounds.
His bold initiative, intrepid fighting spirit and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death undoubtedly saved his comrades from further injury or possible death and reflect great credit upon himself, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Presentation
The Medal of Honor was presented at the White House to his family, parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews in attendance, on Oct. 31, 1969, by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.
It was President Richard Nixon who was scheduled to present the Medal of Honor to the family. But he was called to other official duty at the same time. So President Nixon sent an apology and invitation to the family. And the next week, they came back from their New Jersey home to have lunch at the White House with the President of the United States.
Today., Lance CPL. Carter is remembered in the state of his birth, Franklin, NH., where the Massachusetts Chapter of the Third Marine Division Association placed a plaque in the Franklin Borough Hall along with the VFW Post 1698 and its Auxiliary to honor his birth place. Park Ridge, New Jersey American Legion Post 153 changed its name to the Jedh Barker Post 153. His name is engraved in the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC, and in 1976, the US Marine Corps named Barker Hall at Quantico, Virginia in his honor.
Lance LCpl Carter is buried at George Washington Memorial Cemetery in Paramus, NJ.
Other Medal of Honor Recipients
