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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.
