Vietnam Medal Of Honor Heroes

More than 100 compelling, true stories of personal heroism and valor– in a special expanded edition honoring courage in the face of war Here are dramatic accounts of the fearless actions that earned American soldiers in Vietnam our highest military distinction–the Medal of Honor. Edward F. Murphy, head of the Medal of Honor Historical Society, re-creates the heroic acts of individual soldiers from official documents, Medal of Honor citations, contemporary accounts, and, where possible, interviews with survivors. Complete with a list of all Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients, this book offers a unique perspective on the war–from the early days of U.S. involvement through the return home of the last soldiers. It pays a fitting tribute to these patriotic, selfless souls.

Recounts the heroic exploits of Vietnam veterans who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, accompanied by a complete listing of all Vietnam medalists

Twenty-three Medal of Honor recipients from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War tell their stories.

"Kenneth Kays was born in the conservative farm country of southern Illinois. The sixties were in full flower by the time Ken went off to college and discovered a world quite different from the one back home. On campus, drug culture flourished and the Vietnam War had polarized students. College meant a draft exemption, but in spring of 1969 Kays flunked out of school and soon received his draft notification. Denied conscientious objector status, he fled to Canada only to return. Yielding at last to pressure from family and community leaders, he joined up." "In deference to his nonviolent beliefs, the Army assigned him to a medical unit; he refused to carry a weapon. On May 7, 1970, after only seventeen days in Vietnam and just one day after joining a new platoon, the young medic found himself in a ferocious fire fight. Kays' actions at Fire Support Base Maureen would bring him the nation's highest award for military valor. The fighting that night at FSB Maureen was four hours of terrifying chaos. Seven men died. Yet it was just another unheralded skirmish toward the end of a long and fruitless war. Kays returned home with little fanfare and, with other vets, struggled to reconcile his anti-war beliefs and what he and others had done in Vietnam."--BOOK JACKET.

There are many broad studies of the Vietnam War, but this work offers an insight into the harrowing experiences of just a small number of men from a single unit, deep in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. Its focus is the remarkable account of a Medal of Honor recipient Leslie Sabo Jr., whose brave actions were forgotten for over three decades. Sabo and other replacement soldiers in Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry (Currahees), 101st Airborne Division, were involved in intense, bloody engagements such as the battle for Hill 474 and the Mother's Day Ambush. Beginning with their deployment at the height of the blistering Tet Offensive, and using military records and interviews with surviving soldiers, Eric Poole recreates the terror of combat amidst the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam. Company of Heroes, now published in paperback tells the remarkable story of how Sabo earned his medal, as Bravo Company forged bonds of brotherhood in their daily battle for survival.

Heroes of Our Time contains all 239 Medal of Honor citations such as this excerpt: ...His rifle ammunition expended, he seized two grenades and, in an act of unsurpassed heroism, charged toward the entrenched enemy weapon. Hit again in the leg, this time with a tracer round which set fire to his clothing, Sgt. Robinson ripped the burning clothing from his body and staggered indomitably through the enemy fire, now solely concentrated on him, to within grenade range of the enemy position. Sustaining two additional chest wounds, he marshalled his fleeting physical strength and hurled the two grenades, thus destroying the enemy position, as he fell dead upon the battlefield... Along with the citations are newspaper accounts of various battles. Heroes of Our Time is a look at the courage of American soldiers in Vietnam.