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Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard, Medal of Honor recipient.

Episode 2755 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army SFC Matthew Leonard and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army SFC Matthew Leonard. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard had completed nearly 20 years of service when he died in a firefight in the jungles of Vietnam. He sacrificed his life to save his platoon, and for that he earned the Medal of Honor.

Lange added this about Leonard; he was born Nov. 26, 1929, in Eutaw, Alabama. Not a lot has been published about his family or childhood, but Leonard was a Boy Scout who went to Ullman High School in Birmingham. His wife told a newspaper that as a teen, he worked at a drugstore for $15 a week to help his mother pay the bills.

Leonard enlisted in the Army in 1947 when he was in 11th grade. Shortly after that, he married his grade-school sweetheart, Lois. Over the next few years, they had five children, three girls and two boys.

Leonard served as a drill sergeant and trained young recruits at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. But as the war in Vietnam broke out, Leonard’s wife said he struggled to watch those young recruits, who weren’t much older than his sons, go to war and die. So, even though he was close to retirement, he volunteered to deploy in the hope of making a difference.

On Feb. 28, 1967, Leonard was serving as platoon sergeant for Company B of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

Listen to episode 2755 and discover more about Army SFC Matthew Leonard  and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Navy Lt. j.g. Clyde E. Lassen wears his Medal of Honor, Feb. 3, 1969.

The men of Helicopter Squadron 7, Detachment 104, pose for a group photo during the Vietnam War. Navy Lt. j.g. Clyde E. Lassen, Medal of Honor recipient, is on the far left in the back row.

Episode 2754 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Navy Cmdr. Clyde Everett Lassen and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Navy Cmdr. Clyde Everett Lassen. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that not many helicopter pilots could pull off a mission to fly into enemy territory in complete darkness and rescue their stranded comrades. During the Vietnam War, however, Navy Cmdr. Clyde Everett Lassen did just that. It took him several attempts to make the pickup, and he barely made it back to tell the tale. But the valor he showed that day earned him the Medal of Honor.

Lange added this about Lassen; he was born in Fort Myers, Florida, on March 14, 1942. Since World War II was raging, and his father, Arthur, was in the service, Lassen’s mother, Jacqueline, moved in with her family in Lake Placid, New York, when Lassen was still an infant. His parents reunited when he was three years old, and they moved to Englewood, Florida, and had another son, Gary.

Lassen was an aviation electronics technician, but he wanted more from his military career. So, in 1964, he was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. On Oct. 12, 1965, he received his commission and Wings of Gold as a helicopter pilot. That same month, he married his high school sweetheart, Linda. They went on to have two children, Daryl and Lynne.

Lassen’s first assignment was with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 1, where he practiced search-and-rescue techniques in the Philippine jungle. Eventually, HC-1 was redesignated Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 7. Lassen became the officer in charge of the squadron’s Detachment 104 aboard USS Preble, which was deployed off the coast of Vietnam during the war.

Listen to episode 2754 and discover more about Navy Cmdr. Clyde Everett Lassen and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Medal of Honor recipient Retired Army Maj. John J. Duffy.

Episode 2753 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army Maj. John J. Duffy and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Maj. John J. Duffy. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that Army Maj. John J. Duffy often operated behind enemy lines during his four tours of duty in Vietnam. During one of those deployments, he single-handedly saved a South Vietnamese battalion from decimation. Fifty years later, the Distinguished Service Cross he received for those actions was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Lange added this about John Duffy; he was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 16, 1938, and joined the Army in March 1955 when he was only 17. By 1963, he’d earned his commission as an officer and joined the 5th Special Forces Group as an elite Green Beret.

Duffy deployed to Vietnam four times during his career; in 1967, 1968, 1971 and 1973. It was during his third tour of duty that he earned the Medal of Honor.

In early April 1972, Duffy was a senior advisor to an elite battalion of the South Vietnamese army. When North Vietnamese forces tried to overrun Fire Support Base Charlie in the country’s Central Highlands, Duffy’s soldiers were tasked with holding off the battalion-sized unit.

Army Gen. Joseph M. Martin, the vice chief of staff of the Army, said “It was Major Duffy’s many heroic acts, including calling for strikes on his own position to allow his battalion to retreat, that enabled the escape. Major Duffy’s Vietnamese brothers … credit him with saving their battalion from complete annihilation.”

According to Duffy’s website , he was a founding member of the Special Operations Association and, in 2013, was inducted into the Infantry OCS Hall Of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Listen to episode 2753 and discover more about Army Maj. John J. Duffy and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Army 2nd Lt. Harold Bascom Durham Jr., Medal of Honor recipient.

Episode 2752 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army 2nd Lt. Harold Durham Jr. and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army 2nd Lt. Harold Durham Jr. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that When his unit was overwhelmed in Vietnam, Army 2nd Lt. Harold Bascom Durham Jr. didn’t hesitate to unleash a barrage of artillery on the enemy to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. Durham didn’t survive to tell the tale, but his bravery was detailed to others by the men who were there with him. For his actions, he earned the Medal of Honor.

Lange added this about Harold Durham, Jr.; he was born Oct. 12, 1942, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. That day, he earned the nickname he would go by for the rest of his life: Pinky, reportedly because the hospital where he was born ran out of blue blankets, so he received a pink one instead.

Within a few months of his birth, Durham’s father, a Marine World War II veteran, and his mother, Grace, moved the family to Tifton, Georgia, where they raised Durham and his two siblings, older brother John and younger sister Eugenia.

Durham was a member of the 1st Infantry Division’s 15th Field Artillery Regiment, but on Oct. 17, 1967, he was serving as a forward observer with Company D of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, about 56 miles northwest of Saigon. Their goal was to do reconnaissance in the area, and Durham’s job was to plan and radio in requests for artillery fire to support infantry soldiers.

Listen to episode 2752 and discover more about Army 2nd Lt. Harold Durham Jr.and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Marine Corps Lt. Harvey C. “Barney” Barnum Jr., Medal of Honor recipient

Marine Corps Cpl. Patrick Iacunato and 1st Lt. Harvey C. “Barney” Barnum Jr. pose for a photo while serving in Vietnam.

Episode 2751 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Marine Corps Col. Harvey Barnum Jr.and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Marine Corps Col. Harvey Barnum Jr. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that Marine Corps Col. Harvey Curtiss Barnum Jr. barely had time to adjust to Vietnam as a young lieutenant before he found himself commanding a company in the middle of an enemy ambush. Barnum’s calm demeanor and swift decisions helped stabilize his badly damaged unit, and they earned him the Medal of Honor.

Lange added this about Harvey M. Barnum, Jr., he was born July 21, 1940, in Cheshire, Connecticut, to parents Harvey and Ann Barnum. During an interview later in life, Barnum said he and his younger brother, Henry, were fortunate that their parents were both very involved in their upbringing, which is likely where his understanding and love of discipline began.

After graduating high school in 1958, Barnum went to St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he joined the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class, a summer program similar to ROTC. Four years later, he graduated with a degree in economics and was commissioned into the Marine Corps Reserve.

After training, Barnum was sent to serve with the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan, before being stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in early 1965. Later that year, his unit was ordered to go to Vietnam on a temporary deployment, and the first shipment of Marines was slated to leave prior to the holidays. Barnum said that because he was single and most of his fellow Marines weren’t, he volunteered to go.

Listen to episode 2751 and discover more about Marine Corps Col. Harvey Barnum Jr.and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Army Sgt. 1st Class Melvin Morris earned the Medal of Honor in 2014 for actions he took in Vietnam on Sept. 17, 1969.

Retired U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Melvin Morris, Medal of Honor recipient, wears his 55-year old Green Beret, Jan. 31, 2017, at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. Morris’s Green Beret has never left his side since the day President John F. Kennedy visited Fort Bragg and authorized U.S. Army Special Forces to wear Green Berets. (U.S. Air Force photo by Phil Sunkel)
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Episode 2750 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army SFC Class Melvin Morris and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army SFC Class Melvin Morris. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that In 1969, Army Sgt. 1st Class Melvin Morris waded through a blistering firefight in Vietnam to rescue a fallen comrade and keep crucial information out of the enemy’s hands. He was injured three times during the fight, but after recovering, went on with his military career. Forty-four years later, the initial accolades Morris received for his actions were upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Lange added this about Melvin Morris, he was born Jan. 7, 1942, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, a rural community east of Oklahoma City. His father, John, was a handyman who found work when he could, while his mother was a homemaker. Morris said when he was young, he enjoyed fishing, hunting and hanging out with his three brothers and four sisters.

There weren’t many Black men in the Oklahoma Army National Guard in the late 1950s, but the service was recruiting, so in 1959, Morris signed up. After about a year, he requested to join the active-duty Army. He attended artillery and airborne training before deciding he wanted to join the newly created Special Forces. He started that training in 1961, and by September 1963, was a fully qualified Green Beret.

While he was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Morris met Mary Nesbitt, whom he married three months later. The pair went on to have two sons and a daughter before he volunteered to go to Vietnam in February 1969.

Listen to episode 2750 and discover more about Army SFC Class Melvin Morris and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Medal of Honor Recipient Army Spec 5 Dennis M. Fujii

Army Spc. 5 Dennis Fujii returns home to Hawaii from Vietnam with a hero’s welcome, 1971.

Episode 2749 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army Spec 5 Dennis M. Fujii and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Spec 5 Dennis M. Fujii. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that In 1971, Army Spc. 5 Dennis M. Fujii spent five grueling days fending off enemy fighters after his medevac helicopter crashed during a rescue attempt in Laos. During that time, he took care of wounded South Vietnamese soldiers and found a way for U.S. air support to successfully extract him. Fujii recently received the Medal of Honor for those actions, more than 50 years after the ordeal made him a hero.

Lange added this about Dennis Fujii. he was born March 1, 1949, in Hanapepe on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. He was one of six children of Gladys and Charles Fujii, the latter of whom had served in the National Guard.

Fujii enlisted in the Army in the middle of his senior year of high school in 1968, and he was able to earn his diploma while he was in the service. He deployed to Vietnam that same year as an assistant machine gunner with the 4th Infantry Division.

The young soldier returned home but was deployed again in 1970, this time with the 237th Medical Detachment, 61st Medical Battalion of the 67th Medical Group.

On Feb. 18, 1971, Fujii was serving as the crew chief aboard a medevac helicopter, which was sent to evacuate seriously wounded South Vietnamese soldiers from a raging battle in Laos.

Listen to episode 2749 and discover more about Army Spec 5 Dennis M. Fujii and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Medal of Honor recipient Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger poses for a photo at Udorn Air Base, Thailand. It was taken shortly before his death in March 1968 during a battle at a secret U.S. radar site on a mountain peak in Laos.

Episode 2748 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that many military men and women do heroic things that they can’t get credit for because they’re involved in classified missions. For Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Loy Etchberger, he finally did get credit in the form of the Medal of Honor 42 years after he lost his life saving others during the Vietnam War.

Lange added this about Richard Etchberger. he was born March 5, 1933, in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, to Donald and Kathryn Etchberger. He had an older brother named Robert.

When their father lost his job after the Pearl Harbor attacks, both boys started to work odd jobs to help with finances. Eventually, the family moved to nearby Minersville, Pennsylvania, so his dad could find more work. There, Etchberger became a star basketball player and excelled in academics. His brother said it helped that he had a photographic memory.

Etchberger enlisted in the Air Force. He initially wanted to be a pilot, his brother said, but due to an injury that lingered from his basketball days, he washed out of aviation school. Instead, he was trained as a radio operator and came to be known to be an electronics whiz.

Etchberger was assigned to the 1043rd Radar Evaluation Squadron and placed on a top-secret Air Force/CIA mission code-named Project Heavy Green. It called for Etchberger and a small team to go to a small radar station on top of a remote mountain in Laos that was being used to direct U.S. air support to North Vietnam during the early years of the war.

Listen to episode 2748 and discover more about Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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A portrait of retired Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley, taken July 9, 2018. President Donald J. Trump presented Canley with the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony, Oct. 17, 2018, for his heroic actions during the Battle of Hue City while serving in Vietnam.

Episode 2747 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about U.S. Marine SMJ John L. Canley and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Vietnam Vet Gets Medal of Honor After 50-Year Wait. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that It’s been 50 years since John L. Canley, then a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, led his company in a brutal weeklong fight against North Vietnamese troops, saving hundreds of people from harm during the infamous Battle of Hue City. Today, he received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Lange added this about him. Canley received a Navy Cross two years after the battle, but many of the men who served under him thought he deserved the nation’s highest honor. After years of bureaucratic delays, their campaign succeeded. Now 80, and retired at the rank of sergeant major, he is the 300th Marine to have earned the nation’s highest military honor.

The Battle of Hue City was one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. It was part of the surprise attack by North Vietnamese troops that’s famously known as the Tet Offensive.

Canley was a gunnery sergeant for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, during a weeklong portion of the battle to retake the city.

On Jan. 31, 1968, the company came across intense enemy fire. Canley ran through it, risking his life to carry several injured Marines back to safety. His company commander was wounded during the shootout, so Canley assumed command despite his own injuries. He reorganized the scattered men and personally moved through their ranks to advise and encourage them.

Listen to episode 2747 and discover more about U.S. Marine SMJ John L. Canley and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.

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Medal of Honor recipient Army Capt. Humbert Versace.

Army Capt. Humbert Versace’s brothers uncover his Medal of Honor plaque during an induction ceremony into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes, July 9, 2002. President George W. Bush presented the award to Versace’s family at the White House one day earlier.

Episode 2746 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army Capt. Humbert Versace and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Capt. Humbert Versace. It was submitted by Katie Lange, the outstanding writer for DOD News.

Lange, in her story, reported that Army Capt. Humbert Versace was the son of an Army colonel who decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1959. He served in Korea before volunteering to go to Vietnam as an advisor.

Lange added this about him. In October 1963, Versace was accompanying a South Vietnamese military unit when it came under attack by Viet Cong enemies. He was seriously wounded in the battle, but he continued to fight until he was taken prisoner.

Since he could speak French and Vietnamese, Versace largely assumed command of the other men imprisoned with him. For nearly two years, he withstood exhaustive interrogations, torture and abuse without breaking. He even tried to escape four times.

Versace was eventually isolated, caged, shackled in irons and starved before he was executed on Sept. 26, 1965. His body was never recovered.

For his unyielding courage in the most dire of situations, Versace was nominated for the Medal of Honor in 1969, but he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star instead. It took until 2002 for that award to be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Listen to episode 2746 and discover more about Army Capt. Humbert Versace  and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.