Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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.
