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description= The musings & rants of 3 retired military (2 USAF, 1 USN), 1 former WSO, and 1 AF brat. Old AF Sarge, Juvat, Tuna, LUSH, and Beans.;
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egiment of the republic of vietnam army on a solo reconnaisance mission he stepped on a land mine doctors told him he would never walk again here s were the bad ass comes to fruition getting out of bed at night against doctors orders benavidez would crawl using his elbows and chin to a wall near his bedside and with the encouragement of his fellow patients many of whom were permanently paralyzed and or missing limbs he would prop himself against the wall and attempt to lift himself unaided starting by wiggling his toes then his feet and then eventually after several months of excruciating practice that by his own admission often left him in tears pushing himself up the wall with his ankles and legs after over a year of hospitalization benavidez walked out of the hospital in july 1966 with his wife at his side determined to return to combat in vietnam despite continuing pain from his wounds he returned to south vietnam in january 1968 source he returned to vietnam in january 1968 bad ass indeed but no he goes back into combat he heard a radio call from a special forces unit that was surrounded he grabbed a medical bag and boarded a helicopter when they arrived in the vicinity he jumped out of the helicopter 30 40 feet in the air again here s the description of the event at one point in the battle an nva soldier accosted him and stabbed him with his bayonet benavidez pulled it out drew his own knife killed him and kept going leaving his knife in the nva soldier s body he later killed two more nva soldiers with an ak 47 while providing cover fire for the people boarding the helicopter after the battle he was evacuated to the base camp examined and thought to be dead as he was placed in a body bag among the other dead in body bags he was suddenly recognized by a friend who called for help a doctor came and examined him but believed benavidez was dead the doctor was about to zip up the body bag when benavidez managed to spit in his face to show that he was alive 6 benavidez had a total of 37 separate bullet bayonet and shrapnel wounds from the six hour fight with the enemy battalion source on february 24 1981 president reagan presented him with the medal of honor during the ceremony he stated if the story of his heroism were a movie script you would not believe it spot on mr president citation for the award of the medal of honor f or conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 2 may 1968 master sergeant then staff sergeant roy p benavidez distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions while assigned to detachment b56 5th special forces group airborne 1st special forces republic of vietnam on the morning of 2 may 1968 a 12 man special forces reconnaissance team was inserted by helicopters of the 240th assault helicopter company in a dense jungle area west of loc ninh vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large scale enemy activity this area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the north vietnamese army after a short period of time on the ground the team met heavy enemy resistance and requested emergency extraction three helicopters attempted extraction but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti aircraft fire sergeant benavidez was at the forward operating base in loc ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters of the 240th assault helicopter company returned to off load wounded crew members and to assess aircraft damage sergeant benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team prior to reaching the team s position he was wounded in his right leg face and head despite these painful injuries he took charge repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft and the loading of wounded and dead team members he then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team s position despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft he then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members as the enemy s fire intensified he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader when he reached the leader s body sergeant benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back at nearly the same moment the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded and his helicopter crashed although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds sergeant benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men reinstilling in them a will to live and fight facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team sergeant benavidez mustered his strength began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy s fire and so permit another extraction attempt he was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land his indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft on his second trip with the wounded he was clubbed from behind by an enemy soldier in the ensuing hand to hand combat he sustained additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary 7 note 2 he then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter upon reaching the aircraft he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them with little strength remaining he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed and to bring in the remaining wounded only then in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft sergeant benavidez gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds saved the lives of at least eight men his fearless personal leadership tenacious devotion to duty and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect the utmost credit on him and the united states army sergeant benevidez passed away in 1998 at 63 he is buried in the fort sam houston national semitary my primary source for this post is here wikipedia is usually a good source for these posts imho they went way beyond their usual level of detail i highly recommend reading it in it s entirety you might also find the video of president reagan presenting the moh to master sergeant benavidez interesting peace out y all other sources you might find interesting https www americanrhetoric com speeches ronaldreaganroybenavidezmedalofhonor htm https en wikipedia org wiki roy_benavidez https www cmohs org news events medal of honor recipient profile roy benavidez presevering to the last https www cmohs org news events medal of honor recipient profile roy benavidez presevering to the last posted by juvat at 12 00 am 11 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels medal of honor vietnam monday june 8 2026 maynard harrison smith moh ok folks i found this to be an interesting story apparently heroes aren t always good guys but they can rise to the occasion on with the story maynord harrison smith was given the nickname of snuffy when he joined the army air corps source no beans not that one source this one according to this source he was a bit of a trouble maker drafted into the army at 31 he seemed to find his place although he still had issues in an interview with andy rooney prior to rooney s fame it was noted that he was a moderately pompous little fellow with the belligerent attitude of a man trying to make up with attitude what his five foot four 130 pound body left him wanting as a result his nickname in the modern air force call sign snuffy was bestowed on him suffice it to say when the time came he arose to the occasion an excellent retelling of his medal of honor mission can be found here i m not going to copy it or try to retell it go i ll be here when you get back wow right holy mackerel the courage exhibited and to be honest a touch of luck is astonishing the quote where do we get such men nowadays such people was from james michener s bridges at toko ri but president reagan made it famous when he used it in a speech it was true then it is true now smith s moh citation for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty the aircraft of which sgt smith was a gunner was subjected to intense enemy antiaircraft fire and determined fighter aircraft attacks while returning from a mission over enemy occupied continental europe on 1 may 1943 the aircraft was hit several times by antiaircraft fire and cannon shells of the fighter aircraft 2 of the crew were seriously wounded the aircraft s oxygen system shot out and several vital control cables severed when intense fires were ignited simultaneously in the radio compartment and waist sections the situation became so acute that 3 of the crew bailed out into the comparative safety of the sea sgt smith then on his first combat mission elected to fight the fire by himself administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner manned the waist guns and fought the intense flames alternately the escaping oxygen fanned the fire to such intense heat that the ammunition in the radio compartment began to explode the radio gun mount and camera were melted and the compartment completely gutted sgt smith threw the exploding ammunition overboard fought the fire until all the firefighting aids were exhausted manned the workable guns until the enemy fighters were driven away further administered first aid to his wounded comrade and then by wrapping himself in protecting cloth completely extinguished the fire by hand this soldier s gallantry in action undaunted bravery and loyalty to his aircraft and fellow crew members without regard for his own personal safety is an inspiration to the u s armed forces here s a good summary of the rest of his life quite the character posted by juvat at 12 00 am 12 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels medal of honor monday sunday june 7 2026 lt jack w mathis moh ok folks this handsome young lad if you hadn t noticed is texas born and raised san angelo to be precise about 80 miles south of big spring my domicile for about 10 years of my youth big spring is a next door neighbor to san angelo and except for one reason which i ll tell you about he and i could ve been friends source he was a bombardier in the b 17 in england he and his brother had both volunteered to be bombardiers and had gone to that school together he had completed 14 missions of 25 needed to return to the us on his 15th mission he was tasked to be the lead bombardier on a mission the bombing procedure at the time was the lead bombardier would find the target aim point and when the time came to drop he would trigger off his bombs every other bombardier in the formation would do the same thing at the same time when they saw him drop i m not sure exactly why this was the methodology other than possibly with a hundred or so aircraft in tight formation and a hundred or so bombardiers trying and literally flying to get the aircraft in the right position to hit the target mid airs might be a reason besides a large flight of b 17 s sometimes several hundred on a mission and up to 8000lbs of bombs each the tactic of dropping all at once could be very effective especially if the target was large to say the least in any case he was the bombardier in the lead airplane as the formation approached the target aaa became very dense and the lead plane was hit lt mathis was severely injured his right arm was shattered and badly wounded in his right side and abdomen realizing that the attack would fail if he didn t release the bombs properly he dragged himself back to his position found the target and released the bombs the rest of the formation followed suit unfortunately the wounds to lt mathis were fatal and he passed away shortly thereafter lt jack mathis s brother mark was also in his squadron albeit assigned to a different crew he requested to be transferred to his brother s crew which was granted he was killed in action a couple of months later rest in peace warriors source citation for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy over vegesack germany on march 18 1943 1st lt mathis as leading bombardier of his squadron flying through intense and accurate antiaircraft fire was just starting his bomb run upon which the entire squadron depended for accurate bombing when he was hit by the enemy antiaircraft fire his right arm was shattered above the elbow a large wound was torn in his side and abdomen and he was knocked from his bomb sight to the rear of the bombardier s compartment realizing that the success of the mission depended upon him 1st lt mathis by sheer determination and willpower though mortally wounded dragged himself back to his sights released his bombs then died at his post of duty as the result of this action the airplanes of his bombardment squadron placed their bombs directly upon the assigned target for a perfect attack against the enemy 1st lt mathis undaunted bravery has been a great inspiration to the officers and men of his unit 1 posted by juvat at 12 00 am 14 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels medal of honor saturday june 6 2026 sarge where the hell have you been oafs family photo that s my dad in the photo and my oldest kid brother the olde vermonter running around the trail of the artillery piece said artillery piece being a howitzer which in those days were measured by the size of the bore and not the weight of the shot what i refer to as a cannon or gun the terminology differs from country to country but i ll let the real gunners weigh in on that was measured by the weigh...
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