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Medal of Honor recipient Army SGT Dwight H. Johnson.
President Lyndon B. Johnson wraps the Medal of Honor around the neck of Army Spc. 5th Class Dwight Johnson during a ceremony at the White House on November 19, 1968. (Lyndon B. Johnson President Library)
Episode 3182 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam hero Dwight Johnson. The featured story is titled: The Vietnam tank driver who ran into a burning tank to pull his friends out. It appeared on the We Are the Mighty website and it was submitted by Stephen Ruiz.
Ruiz reported that this account of Dwight Hal Johnson’s combat experience captures not only a single act of extraordinary heroism, but also the deep psychological stress borne by the Vietnam Veteran generation. In January 1968, Johnson believed his yearlong tour in Vietnam was nearly over when a routine transfer placed him on a different M48 Patton tank. That last-minute change altered his fate. Within days, he saw combat for the first time during a fierce battle near Dak To, where enemy rockets struck two tanks in his platoon, including the one he had just left. As his friends burned inside, Johnson charged forward, pulling one badly wounded soldier from the wreckage before it exploded, an image that haunted him for the rest of his life.
Johnson had never wanted to fight. Raised in poverty in Detroit by a single mother, he was taught to avoid violence and run from conflict. Vietnam offered no escape. When his own tank was disabled, Johnson fought relentlessly, emerging into heavy fire and using every weapon available—machine guns, pistols, and even an empty submachine gun used as a blunt instrument. For over thirty minutes, he faced overwhelming odds, killing up to 20 enemy soldiers in close combat.
Though he suffered no major physical wounds, the psychological toll was immediate and severe. Witnesses recalled Johnson becoming uncontrollable after the battle, nearly attacking prisoners and requiring restraint, morphine, and hospitalization. His Medal of Honor recognized his bravery, but his breakdown revealed the invisible wounds carried by many Vietnam veterans—young men thrust into extreme violence, praised for valor, yet left with shattered innocence and lifelong emotional scars.
Listen to Episode 3182 and discover more about Vietnam hero Dwight Johnson.
