Omaha Central High School James W Fous Street Renaming

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Submitted by: C/2LT Chance Gaillard

Omaha Central High School Eagle Battalions JROTC held a ceremony on Friday the 11^th for the renaming of a nearby street to James Fous Avenue. The JROTC program at Central spent over a year working on renaming the street, which all culminated into this event. James W. Fous was an Omaha Central graduate in the class of 1964 and he sacrificed his life in Vietnam. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his sacrifice and was inducted into the Central high Hall of Fame.

While on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam on May 14^th. 1968, James Fous leaped onto an enemy grenade intended for the members of his unit. By absorbing the blast with his body, he sacrificed his life to save the lives of the three comrades with him on patrol. For this act of conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nations highest military honor. While at Central James participated in baseball football, O-club, and Outdoorsman club. He attended Omaha University where he majored in business and was active in Tau Kappa Epsilon before joining the U.S. Army in 1967.

James passed away in 1968 at the age of 21.

• Click here for a news report on the street renaming, there is a video inside covering the event (external link).
• Click here for a news report on street renaming (external link).

(All photos of event taken by C/2LT Chance Gaillard)