President Biden awarded seven Korean and Vietnam war veterans the Medal of Honor during a Jan. 3 White House ceremony. Only one of the seven former solders – PFC Kenneth J. David – was present. The others received their medals posthumously.
David received the nation’s highest honor for valor in combat because of heroism he demonstrated in May 1970, while serving as a radio telephone operator with Company D, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, near Fire Base Maureen in South Vietnam. When his unit came under heavy attack from a large enemy cadre, he shed his radio, moved forward and engaged the attackers with heavy automatic-weapons fire. When the attackers tried to concentrate their attack on wounded comrades, he shouted at them with the intent of redirecting their fire upon himself.
He continued this tack until medevac helicopters could move in and get the wounded out of the area of the fight.
Here are the other recipients:
• Pvt. Bruno R. Orig, who was serving with Company G, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea. In February 1951, Orig returned to his base to find many of his fellow soldiers wounded while a heavy enemy attack was still underway. He administered first aid and with the aid of comrades helped move the injured to safety, before manning a machine gun and inflicting heavy casualties upon the attackers until the ground lost to them was recaptured. Once the fighting ended, the 20-year-old soldier was found dead aside the machine gun – along with numerous slain attackers.
• PFC Wataru Nakamura, who was raised in internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II, nonetheless enlisted to serve in both that war and the Korean conflict. While attached to Company I, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division in May 1951, he came under fire while performing a mission for which he volunteered. Rather than wait for help, he charged at the enemy with a fixed bayonet, destroyed a machine gun nest, repelled the attackers, and withdrew when his ammunition ran out. He reentered the fight after rearming himself and returned to the fight, killing three and wounding another, before being killed by an enemy grenade.
• Cpl. Fred B. McGee, a weapons-squad gunner with one of the Army’s first integrated units. In June 1952, he withstood exposure to heavy mortar fire to provide machine gun cover during an assault upon the enemy. At one point he stood up straight in an effort to recover the body of a fallen comrade. Forced to leave the body, he nonetheless was able to move a wounded comrade to the rear while under fire. Twenty-two years old at the time of the attack, he died in 2020.
• PFC Charles Johnson, who earned the honor while serving as a rifleman with Company B, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, during the Korean War. In June 1953, a large contingent of Chinese attackers assaulted the trenches and positions where his unit was operating. Although he was wounded by a direct artillery hit and then a hand grenade, he provided first aid to comrades who were hurt worse than him. He dragged one comrade to safety and continued to provide help, even while killing several enemy attackers in hand-to-hand combat. He was killed while fighting to defend his position and help his comrades, at age 19.
• Gen. (then 1st Lt.) Richard E. Cavazos earned the honor in June 1953, while serving with Company E, 2ndBattalion, 65th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, during fighting that took place in Korea. While leading a raid through heavy enfilades on an emeny position, he directed return fire as they approached the adversaries’ positions. Once there, they engaged in several stages of close combat. After being ordered to withdraw his unit, he did so but remained at the sight – looking for and finding men who were still missing and leading them to safety. He didn’t accept treatment for his own wounds until the battlefield was cleared. Cavazos died in 2017, after serving in the Army until 1984 and retiring at the rank of general.
• Capt. Hugh R. Nelson Jr., who earned the honor when his UH-1 Iroquois helicopter was shot down in June 1966 in Vietnam. Serving as acting aircraft commander, he freed men who were trapped in the aircraft and used his body as a shield to protect them from attackers. He died in the effort at age 28, which allowed a wounded comrade to use a smoke bomb to signal a supporting aircraft for support.
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