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Medal of Honor recipient Vietnam Vet U.S. Army 1st LT Brian Thacker
Episode 2793 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about U.S. Army 1st LT Brian Thacker and his Congressional Medal of Honor award honors. The featured story comes from the We are the Mighty website and was titled: This Medal of Honor recipient hid within enemy earshot for 8 days. It was submitted by Tim Kirkpatrick.
Tim Kirkpatrick entered the Navy in 2007 as a Hospital Corpsman and deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion 5th Marines in the fall of 2010. Tim now has degrees in both Film Production and Screenwriting. tim.kirkpatrick@wearethemighty.com
Evans reported that Brian Thacker was born into an Air Force family. He received his officer commission through the ROTC program before shipping out to the deadly landscape of Vietnam in the fall of 1970.
During the springtime of the following year, Thacker led a 6-man observation team from a hilltop in the in Kon Tum Province, called Firebase 6. Their mission was to support a South Vietnamese artillery unit. After weeks of little to no enemy contact, the enemy finally decided to attack.
As incoming fire rained down onto the firebase, Thacker noticed the enemy was attempting to knock out a crucial machine gun position that was holding them at bay.
The attack grew, the machine gun fell, and the firebase’s perimeter was starting to break down. Thacker realized the enemy’s objective was to obtain the South Vietnamese artillery shell supply.
As the small allied force was being overrun, Thacker organized an extraction plan and had his team dismantle the artillery shells. They were not going to give up their weaponry.
Huey helicopters came in hot to support Thacker’s team, but two were shot down due to well-placed enemy anti-aircraft weapons.
Listen to episode 2793 and discover more about U.S. Army 1st LT Brian Thacker and his Congressional Medal of Honor award honors.
CLICK HERE to hear Brian Thacker tell his story of heroism in the Central Highlands.
