Allen, Michigan, was the birthplace of two Medal of Honor recipients: Civil War Captain William G. Whitney, born in 1840, who served in Company B of the Eleventh Michigan Infantry and received the Medal of Honor for actions at Chickamauga, Georgia, on September 20, 1863; and Vietnam War Staff Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel, born in Jackson, Michigan, in 1947, who served in Company A, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division and received the Medal of Honor for actions in An Loc Province, Republic of Vietnam, on May 24, 1969.