Good morning from Virginia. 🇺🇸
"We proved ourselves a fighting unit. We would not yield. We would never surrender. Our only goal was victory." — Col. Roger H.C. Donlon, U.S. Army Special Forces, Medal of Honor recipient
In the predawn darkness of July 6, 1964, deep in the jungles of South Vietnam near Nam Dong, a small U.S. Army Special Forces camp came under sudden, ferocious assault. A reinforced Viet Cong battalion—hundreds of determined attackers—struck hard and fast, pouring mortar fire, grenades, and withering small-arms fire into the outpost. Outnumbered and caught in the opening moments of what would become a five-hour battle, the defenders faced the very real prospect of being overrun.
Captain Roger Donlon, commanding Detachment A-726, refused to let that happen. He moved immediately through the chaos, directing his men, shifting ammunition from a burning building, and racing to seal a dangerous breach at the main gate. There he personally eliminated an enemy demolition team trying to blast their way inside. Pressing forward under intense fire, he reached a 60mm mortar position despite a severe stomach wound. Finding most of the crew already hit, he calmly directed their withdrawal while staying behind to cover them. He then crawled through explosions to drag his wounded team sergeant to safety—only to be struck again in the shoulder by a mortar blast.
Still, Donlon fought on. He hauled the heavy mortar to a new position, tended to more injured soldiers, retrieved a 57mm recoilless rifle, and crawled back under fire for desperately needed ammunition, earning yet another wound to his leg from a grenade. Despite his growing list of injuries, he dragged himself 175 meters to an 81mm mortar pit, directed supporting fire that protected the camp’s threatened eastern flank, repositioned weapons, and kept moving along the perimeter. He hurled grenades at the enemy, shouted encouragement, and inspired both his American Special Forces teammates and the South Vietnamese defenders to hold fast when the situation looked darkest.
Wounded yet again in the face and upper body by another mortar blast, Captain Donlon never stopped leading. As daylight finally broke and the battered enemy force melted back into the jungle—leaving 54 of their dead behind—he immediately reorganized the defenses and began caring for the wounded. His extraordinary courage, relentless leadership, and refusal to yield turned certain defeat into a hard-fought victory.
For these actions, Captain Roger Donlon received the first Medal of Honor awarded in the Vietnam War—the first ever earned by a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier. His story stands as a powerful reminder of the unbreakable spirit of American warriors who stand in the gap, no matter the odds.
Let us honor that legacy today and every day.
America 250 🇺🇸
