Army of one: the soldier who left Vietnam with 115 confirmed kills
By Jon Simkins
Thursday, Aug 24
Nearly 50 years after he retired from the Army, Capt. Joe Ronnie Hooper’s service record remains one of the most astonishing testaments of bravery in the service’s long history.
When the day came to hang up his uniform for the last time, the Piedmont, South Carolina, native’s awards included two Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars, eight Purple Hearts, and a slew of other accolades, including the U.S. military’s highest commendation for valor, the Medal of Honor.
Hooper earned that last award on the evening of Feb. 21, 1968, during the Battle of Hue — a bloody month-long fight that would leave thousands dead and begin to shift public perception of the war in the U.S. That day, Hooper would be credited with 22 confirmed kills.
Then a staff sergeant, Hooper was on his second deployment to Vietnam when he was tasked with leading a squad of Delta Raiders — Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 101st Airborne Division — in an assault on a heavily defended Viet Cong position on the far side of a stream that stretched 20 feet from one side to the other.
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2023/08/24/army-of-one-the-soldier-who-left-vietnam-with-115-confirmed-kills/
