James Ives

James Ives was drafted into the Army in November 1967 and served for the next two years as a member of the173rd Airborne Brigade, including a tour in Vietnam. In January 1969, while serving in the Bong Son area of South Vietnam – also known as a “free fire zone.” Ives’ squad was making its way up a hill on a small trail when the point man heard Viet Cong voice coming from what looked like a cave. Two soldiers, a SGT and PFC, approached the cave and immediately the SGT was killed and the PFC was pinned down, becoming hysteric. Ives volunteered to approach the cave in an effort to calm the PFC and help extract him. Ives worked his way up, finding a second entrance to the cave and made contact with the PFC below him when he suddenly saw a flash of light. Ives realized that he had been fired upon.  When moving from his position he was fired upon again with full automatic from an AK47 and was hit in both legs and his right hand. Following the incident, Ives and two others were to be medevaced out. However, the helicopter sent to rescue them could not land and came under heavy sniper fire as the second evacuee was being hoisted to the chopper. Without the quick-thinking actions of another man on board, Ives was nearly lost out of the aircraft when the pilot took evasive actions. After being medevaced to safety, I’ve spent seven months in hospitals in Vietnam, Japan and the United States.

Along with the Purple Heart, SP4 Ives was awarded numerous medals and commendations during his service, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Vietnam Service medal, and more.

U.S. Army Specialist 4 (SP4) James Ives represented his fellow Purple Heart heroes as New York’s honoree during the 2023 Purple Heart Patriot Project Mission.