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 U.S. Army Capt. Roger Donlon is a notable Medal of Honor
recipient for a few reasons. Not only was he the first American to
earn the medal for actions taken in Vietnam, but he was also one of
the few – if not only – service members to have had a bounty on his
head when he returned to the battlefield.
Donlon's desire to
be in the military pretty much started at birth. The Saugerties, New
York, native's father served in World War I, and all four of his
brothers were military. Eye issues kept him out of the Air Force,
which was his original goal. Instead, he studied for two years at
West Point, but decided to drop out and enlist immediately into the
Army. He eventually graduated from Officer Candidate School and was
assigned to the U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group in 1963.
Donlon was the commanding officer of the U.S. Army Special Forces
Detachment A-726 at Camp Nam Dong in Vietnam on July 6, 1964, when
hundreds of Vietcong (South Vietnamese supporters of communism)
tried to overrun the installation.
The attack started around
2 a.m., just as Donlon was finishing a guard shift. He entered the
camp's mess hall and was knocked down by a mortar that hit the roof.
He jumped up and ran to the main gate to make sure it hadn't been
breached. Within a few minutes, he was able to kill three bomb-clad
Vietcong fighters. He was also injured by two more mortar rounds
that had impacts so strong they blew his boots off.
During
the next five hours, Donlon's courage was unending as he crawled
from defensive position to defensive position hurling grenades at
the enemy, directing firing operations and making sure parts of the
camp that hadn't been overrun were protected. Some of the highlights
of his actions were:
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Marshaling up troops to get much-need
ammunition out of a bunker that caught fire.
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Reaching a 60 mm
mortar gun pit and helping nearly all of the injured men there
withdraw to safety, despite suffering a severe stomach wound of his
own.
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As he dragged a team sergeant from the pit, he was hit by
another mortar that wounded his left shoulder. The sergeant was
killed.
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Despite his many wounds, Donlon then carried the
abandoned 60 mm mortar gun to a safer location, where he found and
treated three wounded Chinese fighters who were on America's side
(known as Nungs).
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He then went back to the gun pit to get the
mortar's ammunition. In doing so, he was hit yet again, this time in
the leg by a hand grenade.
Donlon and his men were able to
keep the enemy at bay until daylight, when the Vietcong retreated
back to the jungle, leaving behind weapons, grenades and many of
their dead. Donlon continued to help treat the wounded until Marine
reinforcements arrived to evacuate his team by helicopter.
Donlon's actions inspired not just his men, but the friendly
Vietnamese defenders, as well.
Donlon received the Medal of
Honor on December 5, 1964, from President Lyndon Johnson. All of the
survivors of his A-726 team were present, and Donlon made it clear
that the medal belonged to them, too.
Donlon's service didn't
end there, though. He had wanted to go back into combat, but for
many years, the Pentagon didn't allow him because the Vietcong had
put a bounty on his head. In 1972, he was approved to return to
Vietnam for a second tour of duty.
Donlon retired in 1988 as
a colonel after spending 32 years in the Army. He currently lives in
Kansas.
By Katie Lange
D0D News / Defense Media Activity
Copyright 2017
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