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SOG Montagnard mercenaries in Vietnam.
Congressional Medal of Honor recipent Army Capt. Loren Douglas Hagen
Episode 2701 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Army Capt. Loren Douglas Hagen 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. Loren Douglas Hagen. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange in her story reported that according to Army documents, on the afternoon of Aug. 6, 1971, Recon Team Kansas led by Doug Hagen was inserted into mountainous, rocky enemy terrain to do some reconnaissance and potentially rescue prisoners of war. After they set up defensive perimeters around the few bunkers near the hilltop, the team hunkered down for the night, occasionally detected enemy movement that they fired upon as needed.
Around 6 a.m. the next day, they were fiercely attacked by a large enemy force that was employing small-arms, automatic weapons and mortar and rocket fire against them.
While valiantly leading his men in the battle, Hagen ignored his own safety and crawled through enemy fire, returning volleys with his own gun until he was hit and killed. For his actions that day, Hagen was presented The Medal of Honor was by Vice President Gerald R. Ford on Aug. 8, 1974,
Lange also reported that Doug Hagen was born on Feb. 25, 1946, to Loren and Eunice Hagen, and went by his middle name, Doug. For much of his childhood, he and his two younger brothers lived in Moorhead, Minnesota, on the border with Fargo, North Dakota, until their parents moved them to Decatur, Illinois. There, Hagen excelled at MacArthur High School, where he was an honor student and the president of the student council his senior year. He was also an Eagle Scout.
Listen to episode 2701 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Army Capt. Loren Douglas Hagen and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
