Medal of Honor earned in jungle of fire

On May 2, 1968, Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions as a member of the Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam.

A 12-member team had been inserted by helicopter in a dangerous jungle area west of Loc Ninh (I have been there) to gather intelligence. They were met by a heavy enemy force and requested extraction by helicopter. Sgt. Benavidez boarded a helicopter to go to the rescue.

Upon arrival, all the team members were either dead or wounded. He directed another helicopter to a clearing 75 meters away. He was then shot in his right leg; another bullet grazed his face and another his head. Despite his wounds, he took charge, directing the wounded to protect the helicopters. He then carried and dragged half of the wounded to awaiting choppers, all the while providing protective fire.

When he reached the team leader’s body, he was severely wounded by a bullet to his abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. He then began calling in airstrikes and directed fire from supporting gunships. He was then shot in his thigh but kept on dragging wounded to another helicopter. He killed two enemy soldiers near the helicopter.

At one point, an enemy soldier stabbed him with a bayonet, but he killed the enemy with his knife and then killed two more enemy soldiers. Only then, in serious condition and from loss of blood, he crawled into a helicopter and was evacuated.

Upon arrival, he had passed out, and a doctor believed he was dead and put him in a body bag. But Benavidez managed to spit in the doctor’s face to show that he was alive. He had a total of 37 separate wounds from the six-hour fight. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Roger Gregory served as a captain in the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. He is a Priest River businessman.