Medal of Honor Finds Final Home at Monroe Middle School

James Howard Monroe’s Medal of Honor found its final resting place at Monroe Middle School, named for the soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

Over 1,000 students and residents turned out Friday to pay tribute to a Wheaton son who fell in battle over 40 years ago. Michelle Gattas, Monroe’s niece and most recent holder of the medal, said she hoped the medal’s permanent display at the school will serve to inspire the students and the community of Wheaton.

“We hope you discover your own path to courage by standing up for what you believe in,” Gattas told those assembled to pay tribute to her fallen uncle before blowing a kiss to Heaven – a fitting action to start the holiday where this nation pays tribute to its fallen military.

Friday’s ceremony capped off a five month effort to bring the Medal of Honor to the school. Principal Jason Stipp credited Susan Baldus, the assistant principal, for making the day a reality.

“I thought it would be wonderful to have some of his (Monroe’s) effects at the school and she started making calls to make it happen,” Stipp said.

In December Gattas, who lives in Wisconsin, was in Wheaton visiting her uncle’s grave, when she received a telephone call from Baldus.

“It was fate. Here I was at my uncle’s grave and they were calling. I knew this is something that Uncle Jimmy was looking down on and approving of,” she said prior to the ceremony.

Gattas’ father was the keeper of the family medal until his death three years ago. The medal passed on to Gattas, but she said she always knew it was something that did not belong to her. When the call came from Baldus, she knew where the medal needed to be.

Now the medal is lovingly held in a frame in the school office, surrounded by photos and clippings about Monroe. Just outside the office are two murals honoring the school namesake, including an eagle, the school mascot, carrying the Medal of Honor in its talons. Gattas said the “wall of honor” is steeped in respect.

On Feb. 16 1967, Monroe, an Army medic, was treating wounded soldiers when a live grenade bounced into the foxhole where he was working. Without hesitation Monroe threw himself onto the grenade, saving the lives of his sergeant and a radio operator. For that selfless act, Monroe was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1968.

Gary Kerlagon, who grew up next door to the Monroe family, said Monroe’s final act defined the man he called “Jimmy.”

“He was the big kid on the block, but he was a great guy, who wasn’t selfish at all,” Kerlagon said.

Although six years younger than Monroe, Kerlagon said they often played Wiffle Ball in the Monroe yard and Jiimmy would always thank the younger boys for the effort they put into playing.

When news arrived that Monroe was killed, Kerlagon said it was a stunning moment. He said in the late 1960s Wheaton was an insular community and the death not only shocked everyone, but also brought the ugliness of the Vietnam War to the forefront of daily conversation.  

Within a year of Monroe’s death, a new middle school opened bearing his name. Brian Harris, superintendent of School District 200, said during the process of choosing a name for the new school, students were given the opportunity to vote on three possible names – Henry Ford, Cyrus McCormick or Monroe. The voting wasn’t even close. Harris said Monroe tallied 1,957 votes and the other two only garnered a few hundred.

Rep. Peter Roskam said he was initially taken back when he read the Congressional report of Monroe’s sacrifice because the young private, according to the report, pushed his sergeant and radio operator to the side before leaping on the grenade.

“What causes someone to do that? It was love and we are all beneficiaries of that,” Roskam said.

Indelibly linked to the city of Wheaton, Gattas said she knows her uncle would approve of the medal’s new home.

“This is where the medal belongs,” she said.