Frank A. Herda

Frank Herda joined the 101st Airborne and started serving in Vietnam at the age of 20. On June 29, 1968, near Dak To in Quang Trang Province, his company was hit by a night attack from enemy sappers armed with hand grenades and small charges. Herda fired at the aggressors until they were within 10 feet of his position and one of their grenades landed in his foxhole. He fired one last round from his grenade launcher, hitting an enemy soldier, and then, with no concern for his own safety, Specialist Four Herda immediately covered the blast of the grenade with his body. The explosion wounded him grievously, but his selfless action prevented his two comrades from being seriously injured or killed and enabled the remaining defenders to stop the attack. He subsequently was awarded the Medal of Honor. Following his service, Herda attended Cuyahoga Community College's western campus, then served a 33-year career as a systems analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense at the Admiral Kidd Center on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, where the second-floor conference room was dedicated in his name in 2017. Herda was inducted with the inaugural Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 1992. He had an avid interest in science fiction as a child and in 2007 published the sword and sorcery novel, "The Cup of Death: Chronicles of the Dragons of the Magi."
Arrangements under the care of Cannon - Catavolos Funeral Home of Parma Heights.
A private memorial will be taking place at a later date.
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