These Stories of Valor are part of an ongoing oral history program of the Honor Project to ensure the experiences of our combat wounded and those who gave their all in the service of America are remembered for generations to come.
Jack Hanson joined the U.S. Navy Reserves in 1965, during his senior year of high school. After graduating in 1966, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps where he served on active duty for six years. Deployed to Vietnam in November 1967, then-PFC Hanson was awarded the Purple Heart as a results of fragment wounds he suffered from exploding shrapnel and mortar shells during a clash on January 8, 1968, near Thau Thien, South Vietnam.
Read MoreMitchell Reed was drafted into the U.S. Army on September 19, 1967. A member of the 25th Infantry Division, on January 1, 1969 while in the area of Dầu Tiếng, Vietnam, Reed was driving the lead armored personnel carrier (APC) escorting a supply convoy.
Read MoreIn June 1970, then-First Lieutenant Buswell was leading a reconnaissance patrol when enemy forces initiated an ambush with a claymore and small arms fire. Buswell and another soldier were wounded.
Read MoreLawrence Rupp served two tours in Vietnam, first between 1968 and 1969 and then again between 1970 and 1971.
In January 1969 then First Lieutenant Rupp received shrapnel wounds during attacks just two days apart.
In May of the same year, Lieutenant Rupp suffered a gunshot wound while pursuing a Vietcong carrier.
Read MoreAlbert Lirette was drafted into the U.S. Army in July 1967. During his service, Lirette was stationed on a Navy ship that conducted search-and-destroy operations over the course of two years and he was awarded four Purple Hearts.
Read MoreDavid Hugus entered the military in February 1966 and was first assigned to Germany. He joined the 101st Airborne in Vietnam on January 28, 1968, two days before the Tet Offensive started. During his first deployment to Vietnam, Hugus was stationed at a fire base in the vicinity of Phouc Binh.
Read MoreOn September 6, 1969, SPC Edward Gerasimowicz had finished patrolling with his dog and was in camp when the warning sirens sounded and “Rockets in the air” blared out.
Read MoreThomas "TC" Smith enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 9, 1967, and served for more than 25 years, including tours in Vietnam, Germany, Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, Washington, D.C., and the Philippines. Three years after being commissioned, on May 9, 1971, Smith was flying as a co-pilot of a OH-58A on a “last light” visual reconnaissance scouting mission in the vicinity of the U-Mihn Forest (aka “the Delta).
Read MoreA graduate of Avilla (Indiana) High School, Huelsenbeck was drafted into the U.S. Army in July 1966, assigned to Battery C, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery Regiment and sent to Vietnam.
In July 1967, 20-year-old Huelsenbeck's was operating a “Duster,” an armored open turret tank with twin-mounted 40-millimeter cannons, in support of U.S. Marine operations in the Vietnam.
Read MoreKenneth Howe was drafted in the U.S. Army in March 1968 and became a member of the 4th Infantry Division. One year later, on March 4, 1969, SP4 Howe’s company had secured Hill 947 when they came under attack by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Regulars.
Read MoreWashington Sanchez was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, through the ROTC program at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. At the time of his commissioning, he was the school’s only Distinguish Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) graduate and the recipient of a Regular Army Commission in April 1964. Nineteen months later, in November 1965, then-Lieutenant Sanchez was wounded while serving as a Forward Observer with an Airmobile Company of the 1st Cavalry Division.
Read MoreOn January 30, 1971, the Cpl Aguirre’s platoon had just left the base and were relocating to a couple of hill tops. Upon arriving, Cpl. Aguirre’s patrol was tasked with securing the hill tops. Because he was short, Aguirre had several other Marines in front of him. While the six other Marines passed down trail, Aguirre stepped on a booby trap, releasing the trip wire. The next thing Cpl. Aguirre knew he was in the chopper to Da Nang.
Read MoreDuring his service in the Vietnam War, Army Specialist 4 Wyant lost his life on February 9, 1968, through hostile action, including multiple fragmentation wounds, during fighting near Cam Lou Nam Near Song Deim Binh River, South Vietnam, Quang Nam province.
Read More“The only times I was away from my company was on a ROR to Hong Kong, and when I was wounded and spent time on the Hospital Ship Sanctuary, and at the Da Nang Naval Hospital. I was wounded for the second time in August 1967 and returned my company in late September 1967.”
Read MoreU.S. Army Private First Class David S. James was wounded in action on August 4, 1970 in the Republic of Vietnam while serving as a member of the Special Training Advisory Group with Company B, 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 50th Infantry.
Read MoreReflecting on his service years later, Navarro said, “You just never forget the time in Vietnam. There is always something that brings you back. I got PTSD and my wounds to remind me of this time in my life. I am in touch with some of my brothers that were there that night.”
Read MoreRickey Wittner was a crewman on a CH-47 Chinook that was shot down on July 10,1970. At the time of the accident, the chinook was hovering over a load of empty fuel blivets when it took RPG in aft plyon.
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