Medal of Honor winner US Army First Sergeant Maximo Yabes (1932-1967)

First Sergeant Maximo Yabes (January 29, 1932 – February 26, 1967) born in Lodi, California, and at a young age moved with his family to Oakridge, Oregon where he received his primary and secondary education. In 1950, he dropped out of Oakridge High School and joined the United States Army. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor — the United States' highest military decoration — for his actions near Phu Hoa Dong in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Yabes distinguished himself when he used his body as a shield to protect others in a bunker, moved two wounded men to a safer position where they could be given medical treatment and destroyed an enemy machine gun position before being mortally wounded.

In 2023, Greenbrier (Arkansas) High School student Jaydan Alberts made a video (see the link below in the "web links" section) about Maximo Yabes as part of a class project memorializing Vietnam Veterans and was inspired by First Sergeant Maximo Yabes.  Thank you Jayden!