During the Korean War, twenty-two-year-old Private First Class Joseph Rodriguez of San Bernardino, California, serving with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, took part in an assault on high ground near the village of Munye-ri, North Korea, on May 21, 1951. Company F was assigned to take and occupy the hill, but after three attacks against firmly entrenched enemy forces, the company was thrown back each time. Rodriguez, the assistant squad leader of 2nd Platoon, found his position pinned down by hostile fire from five different emplacements. Frustrated that his unit could neither advance nor withdraw, he seized several hand grenades and charged uphill toward the enemy under heavy machine-gun fire. Though he could not see the exact sources of the fire, he threw grenades until the firing seemed to stop, returned to his platoon for more, and then continued his lone advance, destroying two more machine guns with grenades. His actions killed 15 enemy soldiers, routed the position, secured a strategic strongpoint, and brought him recognition with the Medal of Honor.