Staff Sergeant Ysmael Reyes Villegas (March 21, 1924 – March 20, 1945), was a United States Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration, for heroism during World War II at the Battle of Luzon.

Villegas, a Mexican-American, was born and raised in Casa Blanca, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Riverside, California, where he received his primary and secondary education.

Villegas, nicknamed “Smiley”,[3] married Lillie Sanchez in 1944, a month before he was sent to war in the Pacific.

[5] On March 20, 1945, the day before his 21st birthday, Villegas was ordered to lead his squad in an advance which would result in the taking of a hill.

Villegas led his men toward the crest of the hill and then upon his own initiative attacked five enemy foxholes, killing all of their occupants.