VIETNAM VETERANS GET MEDALS FOR HEROIC ACTIONS... [View all]
Source: AP
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two Vietnam veterans were awarded the Silver and Bronze Star medals Friday for their courage in a battle on a jungle hillside where more than 75 percent of the troops with them that day were killed or wounded.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in his citation to the president that Joe Cordileone and Robert Moffatt showed extraordinary heroism during the first Battle of Khe Sanh in 1967. Marine Brig. Gen. James Bierman apologized to the veterans for the 46-year-wait, saying "I'm sorry that it took so long for these awards to work their way around to you."
The men were never recognized until now because the commanders who make such recommendations were killed: Of the more than 100 American troops on the hill, 27 were killed and 50 were wounded. Maj. Gen. John Admire said he was shocked to learn not one of the survivors had a medal...
Retired Pfc. Cordileone still has shrapnel in his face from the fighting. He continued firing for about eight hours after getting hit by fragments from the explosions as he carried his platoon commander, who was killed when a second mortar hit. Moffatt suffered severe head wounds after taking over the machine gun from a wounded comrade, saving American lives. "I knew we had to remedy this because there was no doubt in my mind that what they did was absolutely courage beyond belief," Admire said...
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/vietnam-veterans-get-medals-heroic-actions
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