Michael Crescenz

The Philadelphia VA Medical Center was renamed the "Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center" in his honor on May 2, 2015.

Crescenz received a posthumous promotion to the rank of corporal. He was the only Philadelphian to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. He was survived by his parents and five brothers. His Medal of Honor was presented to his family by President Richard M. Nixon in a White House ceremony on April 7, 1970. To respect his parents' wishes, Cpl. Crescenz was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. In 2008, after the death of his parents, Michael Crescenz was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael J. Crescenz Rank and Organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. Place and date: Hiep Duc Valley area, Republic of Vietnam, November 20, 1968. Entered service at: Philadelphia, PA. Born: January 14, 1949, Philadelphia, Pa.

Michael Joseph Crescenz (January 14, 1949 – November 20, 1968) was a United States Army Corporal (Cpl) during the Vietnam War who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions near the Hiep Duc village of Vietnam on November 20, 1968.

Michael J. Crescenz was born in Philadelphia on January 14, 1949. He graduated from St. Athanasius School in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia in 1962 and from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1966. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1968. He shipped out to Vietnam in September 1968, the same month that his older brother Charles, a United States Marine who had served 13 months in Vietnam, was discharged from active duty.