July 31, 2017 - In a ceremony at the White House ... President Donald Trump awards former Specialist
Five James C. McCloughan, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for
distinguished actions during 48 hours of close-combat fighting against
enemy forces near Don Que, Vietnam, from May 13 to 15, 1969. McCloughan
was serving with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 196th
Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, as a private first class combat
medic. McCloughan, then 23 years old, voluntarily risked his life on
nine separate occasions to rescue wounded and disoriented comrades. He
suffered wounds from shrapnel and small arms fire on three separate
occasions, but refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and
continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend wounded
Americans.
Video by and courtesy of DoD News Video edited by USA Patriotism!
Text of President Donald Trump's Remarks
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please be
seated. Thank you, Chaplain Hurley. Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Mattis,
Secretary Shulkin, Senator Stabenow, Congressman Upton, and members of
the Armed Forces: Thank you for joining us as we award our nation’s
highest military honor to Specialist Five James C. McCloughan.
Today, we pay tribute to a veteran who went above and beyond the call of
duty to protect our comrades, our country, and our freedom.
Joining Jim today is his wife Cherie, his brothers Mike and Tom, his
sons Jamie and Matt, and many other members of his very large and
beautiful family.
We’re also gratified to be joined by eight
previous Medal of Honor recipients. Now, Jim’s name will stand forever
alongside theirs in our history and in our hearts. I want to take a few
minutes to tell you about Jim and how he earned this place among
legends.
Jim was raised in Bangor, Michigan. His father built
their house from scratch and worked 40 years at a piano factory. Jim’s
dad taught him a simple but powerful lesson: Never do anything halfway.
Always do your best. Jim took that lesson very much to heart. He played
for four varsity sports in high school and three in college.
In
August of 1968, Jim was drafted into the Army. Within six months, he was
trained as a medic and arrived in Vietnam. Right away, Jim poured all of
himself into his duties treating the sick and the wounded. Before long,
all his fellow soldiers called him “Doc.”
On May 13, 1969, less
than three months after he arrived, Jim was one of 89 men in Charlie
Company to embark on a mission to secure a transportation route near Nui
Yon. As Jim and his men jumped out of the helicopter, it quickly became
clear that they were surrounded by enemy troops. Within minutes, two
choppers were shot down, and one of his men was badly wounded in the
middle of an open field.
Jim did not hesitate. He blazed through
100 meters of enemy fire to carry the wounded and the soldier to safety.
But this was only the first of many heroic deeds Jim would perform over
the next 48 hours.
After tending to the first wounded soldier,
Jim joined a mission to advance toward the enemy, and advance they did.
Before long, they were ambushed. Again, he ran into danger to rescue his
men. As he cared for two soldiers, shrapnel from a rocket-propelled
grenade slashed open the back of Jim’s body from head to foot.
Yet that terrible wound didn’t stop Jim from pulling those two men to
safety, nor did it stop him from answering the plea of another wounded
comrade and carrying him to safety atop his own badly injured body. He
was badly injured.
And so it went, shot after shot, blast upon
blast. As one of his comrades recalled, whoever called "medic" could
immediately count on McCloughan. He's a brave guy.
As day turned
to dusk, nearly all of those who could and really, really had to make it
back -- they were finally within their night defensive position, except
for one soldier whose plea Jim could not ignore.
Again, “Doc"
did not hesitate. He crawled through a rice paddy thick with steel rain.
That means bullets all over the place. As soldiers watched him, they
were sure that was the last time they would see “Doc.” They thought that
was the end of their friend, Jim.
But after several minutes
passed, Jim emerged from the smoke and fire carrying yet another
soldier. He immediately badgered [bandaged] and fixed and worked, but he
got the wounds fixed and lifted the soldier to a medevac helicopter.
His lieutenant ordered Jim to get in, too. "Get in," he said, "get
in." But Jim refused. He said, “You’re going to need me here.” As Jim
now says, “I would have rather died on the battlefield than know that
men died because they did not have a medic.”
Over the next 24
hours, Jim fired at enemy soldiers, suffered a bullet wound to his arm,
and continued to race into gunfire to save more and more lives.
And yet, as night approached again, after nearly two days of no food, no
water, and no rest, Jim volunteered to hold a blinking light in an open
field to signal for a supply drop. He would not yield, he would not
rest, he would not stop, and he would not flinch in the face of sure
death and definite danger.
Though he was thousands of miles from
home, it was as if the strength and pride of our whole nation was
beating inside of Jim’s heart. Jim did what his father had taught him --
he gave it his all and then he just kept giving.
In those 48
hours, Jim rescued 10 American soldiers and tended to countless others.
He was one of 32 men who fought until the end. They held their ground
against more than 2,000 enemy troops.
Jim, I know I speak for
every person here when I say that we are in awe of your actions and your
bravery. But let me tell you one thing, and one more story about Jim. On
the second day of that bloody fight, Jim found a few soldiers and a
fellow soldier who had been shot badly in the stomach. He knew the
soldier wouldn’t make it if he flung him on the back, so he lifted him
up and carried him in his arms.
As Jim was carrying the soldier,
a thought flashed through his mind. Although Jim had always been very
close to his father, he realized that it was not since he had been a
young boy that he had told his dad those three very simple but beautiful
words: “I love you.”
In that moment, Jim offered up a prayer. He
asked God, “If you get me out of this hell on Earth so I can tell my dad
I love him, I’ll be the best coach and the best father you could ever
ask for.” As he prayed, a great peace came over him. And if it was God’s
will for him to live, he’d keep his promise to God as soon as he had the
chance.
Jim made it out of that hell on Earth. He made it; here
he is. And the first thing he did when he arrived back on American soil
was to say those beautiful words: “I love you, Dad. I love you.” Jim
said those words over and over again for the next 22 years until the
last time he saw his father, the night before his dad passed on.
Today, I’d venture to say his dad is the proudest father in heaven. Jim
fought with all of the love and courage in his soul. He was prepared to
lay down his life so his brothers-in-arms could live theirs.
With
us today are 10 of the men who fought alongside Jim, and five of those
he saved. To Bill, Randy, Mike, Joe, Kent, Robert, John, Charles,
Michael, Orestes -- thank you for your service and sacrifice. Stand up
wherever you may be. Where are you? Where are you? (Applause.) Thank
you, fellas. That's great.
For over two centuries, our brave men
and women in uniform have overcome tyranny, fascism, communism, and
every threat to our freedom -- every single threat they've overcome. And
we’ve overcome these threats because of titans like Jim whose spirit
could never be conquered.
That’s what this award is, and Jim’s
life represents so well: America’s unbreakable spirit. It’s been 48
years since Jim’s battle in Vietnam. He is now a husband, a father, and
a grandfather. He coached high school football, wrestling, and baseball
for 38 years, just like he said he would. And he brought together every
member he could find of his beloved Charlie Company.
To many
people in this room, Specialist Five McCloughan has always been their
friend, “Jim.” To others, he’s been “Coach.” To those who bravely served
with him in Vietnam, he’s still called their “Doc.” To his parents
Scotty and Margaret, both watching from heaven, he will always be their
son. But today, [to] 320 million grateful American hearts, Private
McCloughan carries one immortal title -- and that title is "hero."
Specialist Five McCloughan: We honor you. We salute you. And with
God as your witness, we thank you for what you did for all of us.
Now I would like the military aide to come forward and
read the citation.
(The Medal of Honor is presented.) (Applause.)
(A prayer is
given.)
THE PRESIDENT: Jim, thank you. God bless you. God bless
your family. God bless the United States of America. Thank you, Jim.
