02MAY1967: Hearing that a Special Forces team was surrounded by nearly 1,000 enemy fighters, SSG Roy Benavidez voluntarily boarded an evacuation helicopter bound for their location.  

SSG Benavidez was wounded almost instantly when he hit the ground but he took charge, repositioning the defense and began carrying wounded Soldiers to the waiting helicopters.  Despite the heavy volume of enemy fire, SSG Benavidez took multiple trips to remove his wounded brothers from the field.

With the enemy closing in, a MEDEVAC chopper was shot down on it's approach.  Moving to the crash site, SSG Benavidez removed and consolidated the wounded and assigned those able to aid in the perimeter defense.  As the enemy pressed on, SSG Benavidez began directing danger close air strikes and gun runs from attack helicopters to create some space for additional aircraft to land.  

Wounded a few more times, SSG Benavidez finalized the evacuation of his wounded brothers only boarding an aircraft after his task was complete.  Upon landing back at the airfield, SSG Benavidez, having suffered 37 wounds, was presumed dead and loaded into a body bag.  As the bag was being zipped, he gained the strength to signal that he was alive.

For his actions he would be awarded the Medal of Honor and was able to return from Vietnam, living to the age of 63 and passing  away in 1998.  

16JUN1944: Gunnery Sergeant Robert McCard was serving as a platoon sergeant during the battle of Saipan.  He was commanding a tank during an assault when it was disabled by enemy 77mm fire.  At risk of being cut off, GySgt McCard ordered his crew to evacuate the down tank while he kept the enemy at bay with a stash of grenades.  

Seriously wounded and out of grenades, GySgt McCard stepped out from behind cover to assume the turret mounted machine gun as a last ditch effort to cover his crew's exit.  Fully exposed to enemy fire, GySgt McCard killed sixteen enemy fighters before he was mortally wounded at the age of 25, having sacrificed himself to save his crew.  

GySgt Robert McCard was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.  

16JUN1943: CPT Jay Zeamer and his crew volunteered for a dangerous mission over Bougainville in order to capture recon photos of possible landing beaches.  A 1,200 mile round trip, the crew would be forced to fly without an escort to avoid enemy detection.  As they moved around the tip of Buka, nearly 20 enemy fighters were spotted taking off to intercept.

Firing from the nose gunner position, 2LT Joe Sarnoski was severely wounded early in the engagement.  Crawling back to his position, he continued to repel the overwhelming enemy attackers shooting down no fewer than two himself.  Refusing to step back to be treated for his wounds, 2LT Sarnoski died manning his machine gun, providing the necessary cover for his pilot to exit the area and return to friendly airspace.

CPT Zeamer, one leg broken in two places, the other torn open by shrapnel and wounded in both arms, continued to pilot the aircraft and focused on completing the mission.  Staying at the controls despite his wounds, CPT Zeamer conducted over 40 minutes of evasive maneuvers until all enemy fighters had been shot down or were out of ammunition or fuel.  

Shifting then to a return flight home, a wounded CPT Zeamer maintained control of the mission and assisted in bringing the aircraft back nearly 600 miles to friendly territory.   Miraculously, only 2LT Sarnoski would be killed in this engagement.  

Joined today by Sayre Payne a business litigation attorney from Cincinnati.  Sayre and I spent time together with 2-502IN so thought it'd be fun to talk about a medal of honor recipient from our former regiment.  

11JUN1944: Having jumped into Normandy, LTC Robert Cole was leading his battalion to secure a series of bridges leading into Carentan so Allied forces could continue their push inland.  The approach route proved deadly as the long, exposed causeway (now referred to as Purple Heart Lane) easily allowed the Germany defenders to easily keep Cole's battalion at bay.

Taking heavy casualties, Cole's battalion took whatever cover they could and settled in for hours of shelling that was slowly dwindling their fighting power.  Having lost nearly an entire company throughout the day, LTC Cole led his men into assault positions under the cover of darkness.  

In a near hopeless situation, LTC Cole ordered and led a bayonet charge into the heavily defended hedgerows.  Running forward and calling for his men to follow, LTC Cole assaulted directly into the German defenses where he and his men took up deadly hand-to-hand combat.  His heroic action so inspired his battalion, that all available rushed forward and overwhelmed the German defenders, pushing them from their positions.

LTC Robert Cole would continue to fight with his battalion and jumped into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden.  It was there that he was killed on 18SEPT1944 at the age of 29.  He would posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on 11JUN1944 which came to be named, 'Cole's Charge'.

20NOV1967: Manning an early warning outpost in Dak To, Vietnam, PFC Carlos Lozada spotted enemy soldiers moving to attack his unit.  Lozada opened fire, killing almost 20 instantly all within 10 yards of his position.  Recognizing the scale of the attack, Lozada's unit was ordered to withdraw to a more favorable fighting postion.

PFC Lozada recognized that leaving his machine gun would provide an opportunity for the enemy to overrun the company's position during their vulnerable withdrawal.  In turn, he directed his teammates to leave and stayed on the machine gun providing accurate suppressive fire so his fellow Soldiers could move.  With enemy forces within yards of his position and on three sides, PFC Lozada recognized that unless he withdrew he would likely be killed.  Despite this, Lozada stayed on the machine gun and was mortally wounded while providing the necessary rear guard action.

PFC Lozada's selfless actions ensured his platoon and company would not be overrun in the vicious enemy attack.  

14JUN1944: SSG Homer Wise was advancing with his squad near Magliano, Italy when his unit became pinned down by enemy fire.  Noticing a fallen Soldier in the open, SSG Wise left his covered position and, exposed to a heavy volume of enemy fire, ran into the open to recover the wounded man.

Again pinned down later that day, SSG Wise maneuvered into a position to cover their flank and killed three German attackers at close range with his sub machine gun.  Returning to his squad, he picked up a rifle and anti-tank grenades.  He again moved forward and engaged the enemy himself, until he spotted a machine gun emplacement.  SSG Wise then traded his M1 for a BAR and destroyed the hostile machine gun team.  

Finally, with enemy fire picking up, SSG Wise noticed the machine gun on a tank turret wasn't firing.  He climbed up the tank, restored the weapon system, and reduced an enemy position on a nearby ridge that was holding up the entire battalion.  

Nothing was stopping SSG Wise that day as he used everything at his disposal to remove enemy positions from the battlefield.  

02JUN1944: During an attack, Technical Sergeant Yeiki Kobashigawa noticed a machine gun nest near his position.  Crawling into range, T/SGT Kobashigawa destroyed the position with grenades, killing one and capturing two prisoners.  At this point, he and his team were fired upon by a second machine gun position.  He again assaulted this position, and while providing suppressive fire, enabled a fellow Soldier to capture four enemy fighters.

Now on the lookout for more hidden machine gun emplacements, T/SGT Kobashigawa found four more and was quickly able to destroy two more.  Never stopping that day, T/SGT Kobashigawa's actions resulted in the destruction of at least four enemy machine gun positions that could have produced massive casualties as the advance continued.  

02JUN1944: PVT Shinyei Nakamine's platoon was pinned down by intense machine gun fire as they fought German forces near La Torreto, Italy.  On his own initiative, PVT Nakamine crawled to within 25 yards of the machine gun position, he stood up and fired point blank killing three and capturing two enemy fighters.  

Later that same day, PVT Nakamine identified a second machine gun wreaking havoc on their advance.  He again crawled to within a few yards and destroyed this position with hand grenades, killing one soldier and capturing four more.  Not yet done for the day, PVT Nakamine then noticed another machine gun a bit further away.  As he maneuvered to attack his third entrenched enemy position of the day, PVT Nakamine was struck and killed by hostile fire.  

03JUN1944: Returning from a patrol in the early morning hours, PVT Elden Johnson and PVT Herbert Christian's unit was ambushed by a large German force only 25 yards away.  The enemy force of 3 tanks, 3 machine guns, and 60 infantry far outmatched their unit both in numbers and lethality.  

Recognizing that the unit had to exit the kill zone or they all would die, PVTs Christian and Johnson took action.  Standing to attract fire, PVT Johnson aimed to create a distraction that would allow his twelve comrades to escape.  Firing his BAR from the hip, PVT Johnson advanced to within 5 yards of a machine gun, killing the crew.  He then turned his attention to the next machine gun position, again killing at least four before being wounded for the first time.  Falling to a knee, Johnson continued firing until he was struck again, this time fatally.  PVT Johnson's selfless act allowed his squad to exit a kill zone from which they all likely would have perished.  

Severely wounded in his right leg, Christian pushed forward firing his sub machine gun in an effort to distract the enemy element.  Leaving a trail of blood behind him, PVT Christian made it 20 yards where he stood up and fired directly into the enemy positions.  The full brunt of the enemy firepower now fell on Christian, killing him as his comrades exited to safety.  

11JUN1945: Serving as a picket line off Okinawa, Lt. Richard McCool was commanding LCS(L)(3)-122 when Japanese kamikaze's approached.  Focusing his fire, Lt. McCool's gunners were able to destroy one attacker but a second scored a direct hit.  Blown back from the explosion and suffering severe burns and shrapnel wounds, Lt. McCool immediately set about rallying his crew.

He pulled out all stops to reduce the massive fires burning and directed the actions of his men in an attempt to save the ship.  In this same window, he noticed a crew member trapped in a burning compartment.  Lt. McCool, with no concern for his own personal safety, charged into the compartment and pulled the trapped sailor free.  

Through his focused and calm leadership during this intense period, Lt. McCool was able to salvage the ship saving the lives of untold members of his crew.