Rodney James Takahashi Yano (1943-1969) was a US Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military’s highest decoration the Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War. Citation: Sfc. Yano distinguished himself while serving with the Air Cavalry Troop. Sfc. Yano was performing the duties of crew chief aboard the troop’s command-and-control helicopter during action against enemy forces entrenched in dense jungle. From an exposed position in the face of intense small arms and antiaircraft fire he delivered suppressive fire upon the enemy forces and marked their positions with smoke and white phosphorus grenades thus enabling his troop commander to direct accurate and effective artillery fire against the hostile emplacements. A grenade exploding prematurely covered him with burning phosphorus and left him severely wounded. Flaming fragments within the helicopter caused supplies and ammunition to detonate.
