Heroic Vietnam vets to receive presidential citation

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Nearly 40 years after members of a U.S. cavalry unit put their lives in peril to save 100 fellow soldiers trapped under blistering enemy fire in Vietnam, they will receive the Presidential Unit Citation Tuesday.

It's an honor their captain says is long overdue.

President Barack Obama will award the citation for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry to 86 members of the Army's Troop A, First Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

On March 26, 1970, the 120-member Troop A volunteered to rescue an American infantry company surrounded by an overwhelming enemy force at a site on the Cambodian border called the Dog's Face. The enemy had survived hours of aerial and artillery bombardment and was expected to kill or capture the 100 American infantrymen in Company C within hours. The Americans were running out of ammunition and could not move due to heavy casualties. There were no available landing zones for medical and rescue helicopters to touch down.

Alpha troop heard of their plight on a radio and rode in with an infantry company to rescue their comrades.

"Troop A skillfully penetrated four kilometers of nearly impassable jungle terrain and unhesitatingly mounted a fierce assault directly into the heavily fortified North Vietnamese army position," the presidential proclamation states.

Read more: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/20/heroic-vietnam-vets-to-receive-presidential-citation/

"The veterans of Alpha troop feel very strongly that we stand in the stead of all veterans of the war of Vietnam," Poindexter told CNN. "The fact is that we're being singled out for a very distinct honor, a very rare one, but it is our conviction that on any day in any other jungle in Vietnam nearly every Vietnam veteran would have been willing to assume the task that we assumed on March 26, 1970, when we earned the Presidential Unit Citation."

Thank you President Obama for reminding folks that we have asked our troops to sacrifice for many years.

President Obama.

And thank you to all of the Vietnam vets who have gone unrecognized for acts of heroism, bravery, and compassion, large and small.

Recommend.

and this specific unit for their valor.:patriot:

Thanks for the thread, sabra.:thumbsup:

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson,_Jr.

When I see the words "Vietnam" and "Hero"....
I think of Hugh Thompson.