INGRAM, ROBERT R.
Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the
risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Corpsman with Company
C, First Battalion, Seventh Marines against elements of a North Vietnam Aggressor (NVA)
battalion in Quang Ngai Province Republic of Vietnam on 28 March 1966. Petty Officer
Ingram accompanied the point platoon as it aggressively dispatched an outpost of an NVA
battalion. The momentum of the attack rolled off a ridge line down a tree covered
slope to a small paddy and a village beyond. Suddenly, the village tree line
exploded with an intense hail of automatic rifle fire from approximately 100 North
Vietnamese regulars. In mere moments, the platoon ranks were decimated.
Oblivious to the danger, Petty Officer Ingram crawled across the bullet spattered terrain
to reach a downed Marine. As he administered aid, a bullet went through the palm of
his hand. Calls for "CORPSMAN" echoed across the ridge. Bleeding, he
edged across the fire swept landscape, collecting ammunition from the dead and
administering aid to the wounded. Receiving two more wounds before realizing the
third wound was life-threatening, he looked for a way off the race of the ridge, but again
he heard the call for corpsman and again, he resolutely answered. Though severely
wounded three times, he rendered aid to those incapable until he finally reached the right
flank of the platoon. While dressing the head wound of another corpsman, he
sustained his fourth bullet wound. From sixteen hundred hours until just prior to
sunset, Petty Officer Ingram pushed, pulled, cajoled, and doctored his Marines.
Enduring the pain from his many wounds and disregarding the probability of his demise,
Petty Officer Ingram's intrepid actions saved many lives that day. By his
indomitable fighting spirit, daring initiative, and unfaltering dedications to duty, Petty
Officer Ingram reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of
the United States Naval Service.
