VN: The squad members wrote that you went back to retrieve Thompson’s machine gun along with the ammunition, exposing yourself a third time to enemy fire, then delivered it to a gunner who immediately used it to lay down more cover fire, allowing everyone to maneuver into better-defended positions.

Rascon: At that point, I looked up and saw Sergeant Compton in a defensive position, firing. He knew he was already wounded, and as I made my way to him, I saw hand grenades thrown at him. I grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, but we both got nailed. Sergeant Compton wanted to continue his cover fire for the point squad. I could hear him still giving directions to the squad. Moments later, men from the rear had come up and were flanking the enemy, neutralizing the ambushers — I don’t remember who this was. The only people who had really been nailed were members of the point squad up front, who had been the lead element.

VN: You were wounded once again when you were covering Compton. The squad members believe that you helped save the sergeant, and they wrote that without ‘Compton’s steadying leadership, the point squad might have withdrawn and surrendered the battlefield to the enemy.’

Rascon: Without Compton’s leadership, many members of the point squad would have been pushing up daisies.

VN: What happened next?

Rascon: Within a few moments, everything went quiet. The whole thing had taken only about 10 or 20 minutes. I remember just lying there. Then I started checking out who was wounded and giving instructions on how to get the wounded out to the landing zone. As we were coming out of the jungle, the 2/503 paratroopers came immediately to our aid, assisting with the medevacing and caring for our wounded.

VN: I understand that only after all the wounded were evacuated from the battle area did you allow yourself to be treated.

Rascon: I was helicoptered to a mini-triage area set up for the battalion. They stuck me on a sawhorse litter with my clothes still on and began examining me. I complained about my mouth, but nobody seemed to care! Then I was put on a helicopter and taken to the 93rd Field Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh. As I was extracted from the helicopter, I was being stripped of my clothing, and they tried to take my M-16. I wouldn’t let go of it! I tried to tell them I was signed out for this thing. I ended up in Japan for two months in a wheelchair, then was discharged and put in the Reserves. I went to college for a while, but I really wanted to go back to the Army. In 1969 I went to OCS and got my commission as a second lieutenant of infantry. I later returned to Vietnam as an adviser.

VN: I understand the paperwork that battalion members filled out recommending you for the Medal of Honor somehow never got to the right place.

Rascon: In 1965-66, the war was just starting, and a lot of paperwork was sometimes misfiled or lost. That was what I learned later — apparently that was what happened in my situation. I remember very clearly that I had filled out statements for Silver Stars for Compton and Gibson and a Bronze Star for Haffey. But that paperwork was also lost somehow. A few years ago at a brigade reunion, we all realized that the award requests had never been processed or had been lost. So Sergeant Cook and I put in a ‘lost citation’ request-for-award for Compton, Gibson and Haffey. Since that time, Gibson and Compton have received their Silver Stars and Haffey has received his Bronze Star for valor.

VN: The Army apparently was not interested in reopening the issue of awards for this episode because awards are usually given within two years of the actions that merit them. But eventually Congressman Lane Evans got involved after the brigade veterans brought this oversight to his attention. Evans and the brigade veterans argued that, according to eyewitnesses, the paperwork for the Medal of Honor had been submitted in writing in 1966, and for unknown reasons the citation never made it up the chain of command.

Rascon: Eventually, the Army was open-minded and reconsidered the evidence. A senior Army decorations board approved the Medal of Honor, then the secretaries of the Army and of Defense approved the award, then Congress waived the time limitation and sent the approvals to the president for concurrence and the award presentation on February 8.

VN: Time and again, you have stated that you are not a hero.

Rascon: You know, it wasn’t just me. Everybody that day was a hero. Everyone who lives in harm’s way every day is a hero. And there’s nothing I did that day that I would not have done any day — it was just taking care of friends. And all of us — we were just doing our job. The men and women who served in Vietnam were in harm’s way, and by virtue of that, they are unsung heroes. An important element to remember is the intense bonding that occurs in situations like that, which continues through life. As I said, they were just doing their job.

VN: The brigade’s after-action report on Operation Silver City, which continued on for several days after this firefight, agrees with that assessment — that you and the other units did your job. It says: ‘The mission assigned to the 173d Abn. Bde. (Sep.) was accomplished. The VC MR-7 headquarters was located and destroyed. In addition, numerous other VC installations and large amounts of VC supplies and equipment were destroyed or captured. Finally, over 300 VC were killed by body count and the 271st Main Force Regiment was effectively defeated.’

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This article was written by Kathy Kadane and originally published in the October 2000 issue of Vietnam Magazine.

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