Peter Kristol Way

Along Peter Kristof Way in Medfield, this sign and accompanying plaque preserve the memory of a young man whose life was closely connected to this small Massachusetts town.

Peter Frank Kristof was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 23, 1950. His family moved to Medfield from New Rochelle, New York, in 1965 and settled on Belknap Road. Peter attended Medfield High School, where he became a standout member of the track team, specializing in the pole vault. Friends remembered him driving his 1957 Chevy around town and spending time with other young people near the water bubbler in front of Town Hall

Peter greatly admired his older brother David, who was a Marine, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. After graduating from Medfield High School with the Class of 1968, Peter enlisted in the United States Marine Corps that October. He was sent to Vietnam in April 1969 and served in the infantry. 

Only a year after graduating from high school, Peter was fighting in Quang Tri Province. On August 10, 1969, he was killed in action at Mutter’s Ridge, Hill 484.  The Medfield Historical Society records that Peter was in a foxhole on the defensive perimeter when it took a direct hit. He was only 19 years old. He was later buried in Medfield’s Vine Lake Cemetery. His name also appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Panel 20W, Line 124.

The town eventually made his name a permanent part of Medfield. The roadway that had been part of Grove Street was renamed Peter Kristof Way in his honor.  In 2016, Medfield returned to Peter’s story. Working with his family, the town created the historical plaque seen beneath the street sign

There is something particularly meaningful about remembering Peter with a street rather than only a monument. His name remains part of everyday Medfield. People drive down Peter Kristof Way, give it as an address, and pass this sign without necessarily knowing the young man behind the name.