![]() I can tell you that there's a lot more deserving people out there than me who should have gotten the Medal of Honor." "There were a lot of brave men out there, and most all of them earned a lot more decorations than they received. "I wear this medal for all veterans that have ever served in uniform," he said. In later years, Ballard continued to downplay the action that earned him the nation's highest honor for valor. Eleven other service members were also awarded the military's top honor that day. Nixon during a White House ceremony on May 14, 1970, nearly two years to the day after he threw himself on top of that grenade. He received the medal from President Richard M. He left active-duty service on February 26, 1970, and transferred into the Naval Reserve.īallard was initially recommended for the Navy Cross for his actions, but that was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. to work at the Memphis naval hospital again. Two months later, he was sent back to the U.S. During later conflicts, Ballard was wounded a few times and eventually evacuated to Okinawa, Japan, in July 1968. The battle they were engaged in lasted several days. … I paid attention to my surroundings and to survival skills as best I could, and I just did my job." ![]() "I was wanting to do the right thing, but in all honestly, I was scared. "I don't feel like I did anything spectacular," Ballard said later in life. Ballard then calmly got up and continued treating the injured. When Ballard realized this, he grabbed the grenade and threw it - and it exploded in the air, injuring no one. Amazingly, the explosive failed to detonate. In doing so, Ballard surely knew he would be giving his life for the others. However, as they prepared to move out, an enemy soldier came into view, hurled a hand grenade at them and then opened fire.īallard shouted a quick warning to the Marines, then threw himself on top of the grenade in the hope of protecting his comrades from the blast. He then directed four other Marines to carry the injured man to relative safety. Enemy automatic weapons and mortar blasts quickly took out a lot of men.īallard saw one injured Marine and ran through the heavy fire to help him. He was returning to his platoon from the helicopter's landing zone when they were ambushed by a large North Vietnamese Army unit. Ballard has just finished treating and evacuating two men suffering from heat-related issues. Death became a daily reality, as we zipped our fallen comrades into body bags," Matos wrote.On May 16, 1968, Ballard was attached to Company M as it moved to join more units from the 3rd Battalion, which were located near the demilitarized zone in Quang Tri Province. "Our job now was to tend multiple gunshot wounds, apply tourniquets to the stumps of legs amputated by mines, and bandage shrapnel-mutilated bodies. They followed the soldiers into battle, fixed up the injured as much as possible, and tried to get them to safety. Writing in The New York Times, Vietnam combat medic Rafael Matos of the First Armored Division explained that during the Tet Offensive, he and his fellow three medics were constantly on duty. This was followed in January by multiple surprise assaults on south Vietnamese cities and government buildings and bases belonging to South Vietnam's Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the American armed forces. troops stationed in the highlands, near Laos. ![]() In fall 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) - the army of North Vietnam - began artillery bombardments against U.S. This was especially true during the brutal and deadly Tet Offensive. But when I was in combat I was tainted by this blood lust and I, too, became a combat soldier." Vietnam combat medic Wayne Smith admitted that the heat of battle got to him. Medics weren't supposed to fight, although Matos says he was ordered to perform at least one infantry-related task. Vietnam combat medic Rafael Matos wrote in The New York Times that they didn't have to worry about their appearance, and they didn't have to take orders that conflicted with lifesaving care. Medics were also distinct from infantrymen in some ways. Like the infantrymen, they didn't have body armor or bulletproof helmets. According to We Are the Mighty, most had an M16A1 rifle, a. Unlike in other wars, Vietnam medics carried weapons. After that, the medics worked at base clinics until receiving their orders to deploy to Vietnam. Vietnam combat medic Stephen Dunn recalled learning "how to give shots, bandage and carry the injured, apply tourniquets and morphine." Fellow Vietnam combat medic Roger Buchta said medics also learned how to treat shock and administer an IV, as well as basic anatomy.
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