I wonder why it took 11 years to be awarded the Medal. Maybe he is of the wrong race to get an award during the O'Bastard regime?
@Cyber Liberty Maybe,but the truth is it is harder to get Silver Stars or higher awards if you are in SF because they all have to be approved by higher commands who,in general,have NO love for SF troops,and no real understanding of what they do or how they do it because SF troops on operations never really come under their commands even if they are based in their command "areas".
There is also the issue of not having "enough witnesses to the action". Field Grade officers on awards and decorations boards want a LOT of witnesses to give personal testimony as to the acts of courage performed to justify the reward. And rightly so,to keep two guys from writing each other up for valor awards they don't deserve. When it comes to Medal of Honor awards,there is no such thing as too many witnesses.
This is a hard standard to meet when you are a SF soldier going out on missions with only 1 or 2 other Americans to witness your actions and write you up. This becomes even harder because the chances are one or both of the other Americans are seriously wounded or dead,and in no position to write an award recommendation. The written oaths of the foreign troops with you mean nothing to American A&D boards.
Local SF commanders have no problems approving awards up to Bronze Star,but it takes DOA commands to approve Silver Stars,Distinguished Service Crosses,and Medals of Honor.
Bob Howard,for instance,was put in for a MoH on THREE separate occasions in a 1 year period before he got it. Even then the DA downgraded one of his DSC's to a SS for unknown reasons that can only be described as "petty". The regular army HATES Special Forces.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=robert+howard+mohIn general,ALL military organizations hate ALL special units that don't wear red and march in a straight line,and don't come under local command authority.They HAVE to be independent or they couldn't do their jobs because it is the nature of local Generals to try to pull these people under his command to set up local recon units under his command using them. Or to be used as Platoon Sgts in regular infantry divisions. It drives conventional general officers nuts to see all those senior NCO's running around with all that experience,and knowing they can't snatch them away to run platoons for them. If this happened,they wouldn't be able to do the jobs they were sent there to do.
There was a USMC General who refused to send Marines to the aid of a SF A-Camp in his area that was being overan by main-force NVA regulars using Soviet tanks during the VN war,even though he was ordered to go to their aid by General Westmoreland. Westmoreland flew out to the Marine base at Khe Sahn the next morning and relieved that General of his command on the spot,and appointed his XO as the new commander and ordered him to send a USMC relief force.
By that time the sun was obviously up,and a SVN AF Kingbee helicopter with a 6 man recon team from CCN took it upon themselves to fly there and see what they could do. They landed at the airstrip and rescued the guy left in the bunker,as well as well as one or two SF guys who had been cut off and were hiding in the jungle close to the camp and came running out of the jungle when they saw the Kingbee.
The Marines showed up later and chased the NVA remaining in the area back into Laos,where small SOG units were sent in to set up roadblocks so the USAF could bomb the hell out of them.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&ei=8SldXo3sF4WwytMP5_y-aA&q=lang+vei+battle&oq=lang+vei+&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0l5.344598.356174..360469...1.0..0.142.1243.0j10......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i22i30j0i273j0i67j0i131j0i131i67.Xj5TphAmRFMNo one can say with certainty how many US and Montagnard lives would have been saved if that General had sent in the Marines when first requested,but there can be no doubt that hundreds of Montagnard women and children would have been saved,not to mention their husbands and sons.
All because some bleep General had his "widdle feeling hurt".
