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Army Maj. Alfred Rascon wears the Medal of Honor.
Episode 2732 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Army Maj. Alfred Rascon 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. Alfred Rascon. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange, in her story, reported that when you join the military, you don’t always get the job of your choice. Army Spc. 4th Class Alfred Rascon didn’t choose to be a medic when he joined the Army. But he did as he was assigned, and he did so with such distinction in Vietnam that, after a years-long push by fellow platoon members, he earned the Medal of Honor.
Lange added this about Rascon; he was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1945, but his parents emigrated to Oxnard, California, when he was 2 or 3. The family of three lived in an area with bars that service members were known to frequent. Rascon said some of those service members would give him their hand-me-downs or he would buy them for cheap at a nearby second-hand store.
This exchange led to his early fascination with the military. In fact, according to a Library of Congress interview, Rascon was so enthralled by the idea of becoming a paratrooper that he made his own parachute when he was 7, jumped off his roof and broke his wrist.
So, it was no major surprise when he enlisted in the Army right out of high school. His parents had to sign a waiver because he was only 17.
In late 1963, Rascon was assigned as a medic to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in Okinawa. In May 1965, The 173rd Brigade moved to Vietnam. Rascon said he learned quickly how medics had to depend on their wits, their skills and each other to aid the wounded during battle.
Listen to episode 2732 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Army Maj. Alfred Rascon and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
