Roger H. C. Donlon

U.S. Army Special Forces
Medal Of Honor, Vietnam

Portrait from the John F. Kennedy Hall. Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Captain Donlon was C.O. of Special Forces Det. A-726 at Camp Nam Dong when a reinforced Viet Cong battalion launched a full-scale, predawn attack. He ran through a hail of enemy fire to abort a breach of the main gate and killed an enemy demolition team of three. Wounded multiple times in several daring rushes through enemy fire, he recovered abandoned heavy weapons and needed ammunition on at least three occasions, and emplaced them for other men. He then moved to an eastern mortar position and upon determining that the vicious enemy assault had weakened, crawled back to a gun pit with the 60mm mortar, set it up for defensive operations, and turned it over to two defenders with minor wounds. Without hesitation, he left this sheltered position, and moved from position to position around the beleaguered perimeter while hurling hand grenades at the enemy and inspiring his men to superhuman effort. As he continued to move around the perimeter, a mortar shell exploded, wounding him in the face and body. Daylight brought defeat to the enemy and their retreat back to the jungle left behind 54 of their dead. Captain Donlon immediately reorganized his defenses and administered first aid to the wounded.

Roger Donlon attended the US Military Academy at West Point, and was a non-graduating member of the Class of 1959. He was the FIRST Special Forces recipient of the Medal of Honor and the first Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War.

More Photos Can be Found In Colonel Donlon's Website at:

www.HomeOfHeroes.com/donlon

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