Vietnam War Medals of Honor: Above and Beyond the Call

 | Vietnam  | one comment  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

While dragging a civilian to safety, Beikirch was hit by an exploding rocket that drove shrapnel through his back and out through his abdomen. Nonetheless, he continued working, finally collapsing from loss of blood. He later recovered. The Medal of Honor was awarded on Beikirch in 1973.

ROY P. BENAVIDEZ

Some 13 years after nearly dying for his country, Army Master Sgt. Roy P. Bena-videz was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on May 2, 1968, in the jungle west of Loc Ninh. (See ‘The Last Medal of Honor,’ as told by Roy Benavidez in the October 1991 Vietnam.) The son of a Texas sharecropper, Bena-videz enlisted in the Army at age 19. By age 32 he was a seasoned member of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

On that May afternoon, then Staff Sgt. Benavidez was among a group of soldiers who were standing near a jeep, praying around a white altar cloth that had been spread over its hood. Their prayers were suddenly interrupted by helicopter pilots dashing by, as well as by confused chattering that had started coming from a nearby short-wave radio.

Benavidez ran after one of the pilots to find out what had happened. He was told that a 12-man Special Forces team had been sent to check out reports of enemy troop movements in the area and had suddenly found themselves in the middle of an NVA battalion. Realizing that he had often worked with this team, Benavidez voluntarily joined the crew of a rescue heli-copter rushing to their aid.

Under heavy attack, the Special Forces team had formed a circle in a jungle clearing, where a rescue helicopter was supposed to pick them up. At times during the fighting, enemy soldiers were no more than 25 yards away from the Americans. Because small-arms fire made it impossible for the helicopter he was in to land in the clearing, Sergeant Benavidez urged the pilot to land at another clearing that was 75 yards away.

When the chopper reached the second clearing and was hovering 10 feet above the ground, Bena-videz jumped. Landing on his feet, he began running, but was soon shot in the right leg. The sergeant fell but then jumped up and began running again.

A grenade exploded in front of Bena-videz and shrapnel tore into his face. Again he fell, but once again he got up and ran, eventually reaching his comrades. Bena-videz found eight of the men alive, but bleeding profusely. He pushed six of them and half-carried two others into a clearing.

Benavidez then returned to retrieve the body of the team leader, as well as the classified documents in his possession. In so doing, he was hit by small-arms fire and grenade fragments. Pitching over in a somersault, he landed flat on the ground, but did not remain there for long. Then the heli-copter pilot was killed, and the rescue chopper crashed. Benavidez rallied the survivors and led them back into the jungle. Using a radio, he called in air support, seeking to suppress enemy fire and enable another rescue helicopter to land.

When another chopper reached them, Benavidez helped two wounded comrades climb aboard. On the way back to help the others, he was confronted by an NVA soldier, who struck him in the head with the butt of his rifle and then came at him with a bayonet. Benavidez grabbed the weapon, cutting his hand. He then stabbed the NVA.

Summoning his last reserves of strength, Benavidez picked up two wounded Americans and headed toward the chopper. Nearing it, he saw two enemy soldiers who had not been noticed by the door gunners. Benavidez shot both NVA and then barely avoided being shot himself by the door gunners, who momentarily mistook him for the enemy. He eventually pulled himself on board the heli-copter and passed out. When the chopper landed at Loc Ninh, a doctor took one look at the severely wounded Bena-videz and said there was nothing he could do for him. At that point, Benavidez opened his eyes and–unable to speak–defiantly spat at the doctor. He subsequently recovered from his wounds.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to

Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, People, Vietnam War

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.