Private First Class Milton Lee Olive III, A Soldier's Story
Private First Class Milton Lee Olive III, A Soldier's Story
Private First Class Milton Lee Olive III, known to friends as “Skipper,” was born on November 7, 1946, in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised between Chicago and Lexington, Mississippi, and graduated from Lexington High School with a quiet determination that would come to define his short life.
Before the Army, Milton Olive was a photographer. He earned pocket money capturing weddings, church gatherings, and community events, documenting joy and ordinary American life. He also participated in local voter registration efforts during the Civil Rights Movement, demonstrating that, for him, service did not begin with a uniform.
In 1964, at just seventeen, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. By 1966, he was deployed to Vietnam.
On October 21, 1966, while on patrol near Phu Cuong, his platoon encountered enemy forces. During the engagement, an enemy soldier threw a grenade into the midst of Olive’s team. Without hesitation, PFC Olive shouted a warning, seized the grenade, and rolled over it, shielding the other soldiers with his own body. He was nineteen years old.
For his extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice, Private First Class Milton Lee Olive III was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He rests at West Grove Cemetery in Lexington, Mississippi.
Chicago has also ensured his name endures. Olive Park, located along Lake Michigan, stands as a tribute to his life, a quiet stretch of shoreline honoring a young man who chose, in one split second, that others would live.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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