I read it. The guy definitely deserves the MOH. Right away.
I don’t know why it hasn't happened. But I sure get tired of the racism charge.
@skeeter @rangerrebew @GtHawkYeah,you ain't by yourself,but the truth is the regular army HATED Special Forces,mostly because they wanted all those NCO's in their conventional units as platoon sgts,and couldn't touch them. Special Forces didn't come under the control of the Army in VN. They couldn't order us to do squat,but could ask politely,and if it didn't interfere with our assigned mission,most team CO's would try to help when they could.
A perfect example of this is when a SF "A" camp in I corps near the Laotian border was being overran,they asked the USMC for help,and the USMC General flat refused to help them,even though helping them was part of his assignment. He resented having any military unit in his area of responsibility that he couldn't order around,and he had already tried to order the SF teams to provide him with recon teams. They all politely told him to go piss up a rope because they already had an assigned mission to teach the locals how to defend themselves against NVA attacks,and that was a full time job.
Anyhow,they asked,he refused,and went to bed. The camp got overran that night with the help of Soviet Tanks,and a couple of the SF guys were killed,a few were trapped in the commo bunker with a Soviet Tank doing donuts over the roof to try to cave it in when a SF relief team from the SOG based out of Nha Trang took it upon themselves to go see if they could help. The got a VN helicopter crew to fly them in,and they got there around dawn. IIRC,they called fast movers in to clear away the NVA so they could land,and when they did,a couple of the SF guys who had been on the perimeter and had E&E'd when the tanks ran through the berm reappeared out of the jungle and were saved. They also managed to get into the bunker and rescue the wounded guys trapped in there . The tank tried to haul ass when they saw the unmarked helicopter land because they knew the fighter-bombers would be right behind it,but they got nailed trying to escape.
IIRC,there are still 2 team members MIA from that day.
You heard about all that on your teebee or in the papers,but what you didn't hear was that same morning at sunrise General Westmoreland,the overall commander of ALL troops in VN also landed at the Marine base and relived that General of duty and appointed his adjutant as the new Commander,and telling him to get his people out there to relieve that camp.
None of this stuff was new to SF. One of my friends was put in for the MoH for going on a 1 man Bright Light rescue mission for a team surrounded in Cambodia,with 5 members too wounded to move,and the 6th member crawling under fire from one wounded team member to another to reload their weapons for them and check their bandages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez
It took him over 20 years to get the MoH he had been put in for in 1968. Roy was so crippled up by then from a broken back in a parachute jump and wounds from a couple of tours in VN on other deployments that he was base camp cadre. I was at FOB-2 and he was at FOB-1,and I didn't even know he was there. I found out about all this over 20 years later when I saw him on tv getting the award.
Anyhow,he happened to be walking by the radio shack after attending Sunday church services,and heard the distress calls on the radio. So,quite naturally,he grabbed a "medic bag" and ran for the closest helicopter. He didn't even have a rifle or any web gear. His only armament was the Bowie Knife he carried every day.
It was then he found out the chopper wasn't going to land troops another recon team to help,but was going to do a fly-over and kick an ammo re-supply out the door.
The chopper couldn't get close enough to land where the team was due to all the shooting,so he told them to drop him off in a nearby clearing and he would run to them.
I can't remember now how many times he got shot or bayoneted before they got out that day,but when the slick finally arrived at an army field hospital the doc on duty declared him KIA,so Roy spit a chuck of blood in his face to prove he was alive.
BTW,remember the Bowie Knife? Roy no longer had it. He left it stinking out of the chest of a NVA that ran up to the helicopter with a satchel charge. It was then he collapsed to the ground,and one of the door gunners jumped out and loaded him on the helicopter.
He was also very soft-spoken,and one of the nicest guys you would ever hope to meet. I knew him starting around 1966. We were never on the same teams,but we met while attending various training classes. I was just a punk E-4 when we met and he was a E-7 with a ton of experience,but he treated me as an equal,always had a smile on his face,and something nice to say. He was like that with everybody he met. I never once heard anyone ever say anything negative about him.
BTW,Roy was an Yanqui Indian from Texas. He grew up in a family of migrant workers,and he joined the army when he was 17 and saw it as a way out of poverty. I just mentioned that because of the race mention in the award of the black Colonel.
IMHO,race had nothing to do with either award taking so long to be awarded. IMHO,it was due purely to them both being in Special Forces,and the regular army hating Special Forces.
One example to prove this is Robert Howard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._HowardI did know Bob,and knew him pretty well. When I first got to FOB-2 and volunteered for Recon,he was the Recon Company 1st Sgt,and I was just a punk E-4 who not only knew nothing,but suspected very little. I called him "Bob" because everybody else there did the same. If you weren't allowed to call him "Bob" it was because you ass was getting sent back to Nha Trang for reassignment.
Bob was a SSG E-6 the first time he was put in for a MoH. He was put in for another one two more times in less than a year. He finally got the award with the 3rd attempt. Even then,the camp commander had to order him to NOT go anywhere guns were being fired to keep him in camp. How many people have you heard of that were put in for a MoH THREE times in less than a year?
AND......,Bob was about as white as white gets.
You may have seen him helping Bush lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on tv. He was sick and frail by them,and dying,but he was there,doing his duty. He died not long after that.
I suspect people with an agenda got to that black Colonel,and due to his age were able to take advantage of him. IF that is true,I sure would like to have a private discussion with them.