Posted by LCHS
(Ed note: Article and video references updated 01/18/2020; 05/06-2022)
Our November 14, 2012, our Veterans’ Remembrance program features author Eric Poole presenting a free lecture for the public. He discusses the story of Specialist 4 Leslie H. Sabo Jr. who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor 42 years after his death in Cambodia. This true story of an American Hero includes Sabo’s combat feats, a description of the unique bonds that link Vietnam veterans, and explores the power of sacrifice.
On May 10, 1970, Sgt. Leslie Halasz Sabo Jr. of Ellwood City was killed in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. His fellow soldiers immediately recommended him for the U.S. military’s highest decoration for combat valor, the Medal of Honor. However, the records of his heroism were lost for nearly 30 years in a bureaucratic snafu that kept even his friends and family back home in Ellwood City, Pa., from knowing of Sabo’s courageous acts. Now finally, Sabo’s story has been told, and in 2012, the United States bestowed the Congressional Medal of Honor on this long-forgotten hero this year, 42 years after his death.
Forgotten Honor by Eric Poole explores not only the story of Sabo’s combat feats, but also the unique bonds that link Vietnam veterans and the power of sacrifice. Poole is an award-winning reporter and columnist for the Ellwood City Ledger, Leslie Sabo’s hometown newspaper. Act of Courage, his 2007 Ledger story about Sabo, received a first-place Keystone Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association and Pennsylvania Newspapers Association, and second-place honors from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors Association. Poole lives in Ellwood City.
Poole’s book, Forgotten Honor, The True Story of an American Hero, is widely available through bookstores.
Specialist Four Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., United States Army
Medal of Honor Recipient
Use the links listed below to learn more online about this incredible soldier
Articles
- Vietnam War hero may finally get his due: Soldier who died to save his comrades recommended for Medal of Honor (Sunday, May 09, 2010, By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Remembering a hero: Medal of Honor recipient Spc. 4 Leslie H. Sabo Jr. (Rose Mary Sabo-Brown vividly remembers May 15, 1970, as the worst day of her life)
- Sabo inducted into Pentagon Hall of Heroes
- Main page – full of links to other articles
United States Army MEDAL of HONOR – The nations highest medal for valor (his story defined by what he did in Cambodia on May 10, 1970). - Medal of Honor Citation: Specialist Four Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. (May 16, 2012 By President Barack Obama)
- 18 images from the Medal of Honor Ceremony
- Boys of Bravo Company become ‘Bravo Family’ – finally
Videos
Leslie Sabo’s Former Company Commander Speaks About The MOH Recipient
Veteran Discovers Medal of Honor Recipient Leslie Sabo’s Story
Remembering a Hero: A story about who Leslie Sabo was and how he came to receive the Medal of Honor (the first 2 minutes of this video feature Sabo’s former company commander talking about what transpired during the day Leslie became a hero – the next two minutes feature Sabo’s brother talking about the Sabo family history – and finally the veteran who discovered Sabo’s story and his efforts to have him receive the Medal of Honor posthumously)
Leslie Sabo’s brother George Talks about the Sabo family history
Watch the actual Award Ceremony Presentation by President Barack Obama (run time 17:06)
