Two soldiers will be awarded the Medal of Honor for their battlefield bravery during the Vietnam War: Army Pfc. Kenneth J. David heroically defended a firebase in Vietnam against an overwhelming enemy force, and Capt. Hugh R. Nelson Jr. heroically gave his life to save his helicopter crew.
For those actions, President Joe Biden will award both David and Nelson the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony that is scheduled for Friday. The Medals will be upgrades of Distinguished Service Crosses both previously received.
“We did our duty”
In the spring of 1970, David was sent to South Vietnam’s A Shau Valley along with 17 other soldiers from the 101st Airborne’s 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, he recalled during a recent media event. Only two other platoons were in the area.
David and his unit discovered many bunkers and a three-story underground hospital outside the wire.
“They knew we were there, and we knew they were out there because we could smell them,” David said during a Dec. 20 interview with reporters
David quickly realized that his unit did not have enough soldiers to defend their firebase, he said. The North Vietnamese Army knew it too, and on May 7, they attacked at night.
“We got overrun by sappers, and behind the sappers were the [North Vietnamese Army],” David said. “I was the only one alive — wounded but still able to fight — on three-quarters of a perimeter. Finally, my buddy Greg [Phillips] came over. He ended up getting the Silver Star. And between the two of us, we held them off because the only way they could come up the mountain was in front of us.”
David kept the enemy at bay with automatic weapons fire, beating back repeated attempts to overwhelm his position, according to his Medal of Honor citation. He then moved outside the perimeter to continue the fight.
Whenever the enemy would concentrate its fire on his wounded squadmates, David would jump up and yell to draw their fire. Even when he was wounded by a satchel charge explosion, he continued to throw hand grenades at the attacking force. The unit’s medic came to David’s position to treat him, but David insisted he was okay and continued to fight.
His efforts to draw enemy fire allowed U.S. helicopters to evacuate the wounded soldiers in his unit.
“The other platoon finally made it over at daybreak,” David recalled. “Sarge came over to me and he got shot in the leg. I carried him back to a safe place. We did what we had to do and that’s when I found out I was wounded also. Up to that point, the adrenaline was so high in me that I had no idea.”
David then returned to the fight and continued to provide cover for the wounded until the enemy broke off the attack. Afterward, he was also medically evacuated.
“Fourteen Purple Hearts, I was still able to save seven of them,” David said. “Between the effort of Greg and myself, we did our duty.”
David is now the adjutant of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) chapter in Girard, Ohio. During his more than 35 years as a DAV member, David has worked to make sure that no veterans are ever left behind, said DAV National Adjutant and CEO Barry Jesinoski.
“Fred’s family has our gratitude and sympathy at this time of long overdue recognition,” Jesinoski said in a statement to Task & Purpose. “His fellow DAV members celebrate his recognition and are grateful for the sacrifices of all who were honored for acts of incredible heroism on behalf of their fellow soldiers and our great nation.”
David said he plans to continue his work with veterans.
“I did receive the [Distinguished Service] Cross back in 1971, and with the Cross I was able to use the award to help more veterans because people listened to me,” David said. “Now that I’m receiving the Medal of Honor, I will have more power to help more veterans, in my opinion, because I think people will listen to me more because of the award and the prestige that goes with it. That is my duty.”
Selfless sacrifice
Nelson was a pilot flying a UH-1B Huey helicopter on June 5, 1966 when his aircraft was shot down by enemy ground forces. Nelson was the first of the four helicopter crew members to regain consciousness. He quickly saw that the enemy was all around the crash site.
With the enemy only about 30 feet from the downed aircraft, Nelson ripped off one of the helicopter’s doors with his bare hands to move one of his fellow crew members who had been pinned under the cargo compartment to safety. He then freed another crew member who had been trapped in the wreckage.
When he got the man to safety, Nelson used his body to shield the crew member from the enemy fire.
Nelson was shot between six and 20 times, but the other man lived, said his son Hugh R. Nelson III, who goes by “Tripp” for “Triple.”
Because of Nelson’s sacrifice, one of the surviving crew members was able to signal U.S. forces with a smoke grenade, and the survivors were rescued.
“Nelson’s conscious decision to sacrifice his own life for that of his comrades saved the lives of his three fellow crew members that fateful day,” his Medal of Honor citation reads. “Nelson’s distinctive accomplishments are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.”
The younger Nelson noted that he still has his father’s wallet, which contained several records dealing with the code of conduct for service members, including a two-page document detailing battlefield conduct and another explaining how to treat prisoners.
“He felt he was in the right place, where he belonged, and that was in the war fighting for our country,” Nelson III said.
Nelson’s daughter Debra McKnight was only 5 years old when her father left for Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, North Carolina to start his tour in Vietnam. Her brother was only six months old at the time.
“As a 5-year-old, I remember him lifting me up in my grandparents’ house, and I told him not to go because I was never going to see him again,” McKnight recalled. “Six months later, the Army drove up to our house and I found out that my father had been killed. It was the day before my brother turned one.”
Her mother was such a strong woman that she decided to hold her son’s birthday party the following day, she said.
She later explained to McKnight that although her son did not know his father, “He would always be able to look back at the pictures of his first birthday party and know that he was loved just as much as his two older sisters,” she said.
McKnight also said she remembers the day that Biden called her to inform her that her father would receive the nation’s highest military honor. Her knees started to shake so much that she needed to sit down.
Biden told McKnight that her father had demonstrated selfless sacrifice and said it was his honor to award Nelson with the Medal of Honor.
“He commented that my father was a very handsome man,” McKnight said. “And I was like: Yes, my mother thought so too.”
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