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Lieutenant Commander Kelley was in charge of a column of eight river assault craft which were extracting one company of Army infantry troops on the east bank of the Ong Muong Canal, when one of the armored troop carriers reported a mechanical failure of a loading ramp. At the same time, Viet Cong forces opened fire from the opposite bank of the canal. After issuing orders for the crippled troop carrier to raise its ramp manually, and for the remaining boats to form a protective cordon around the disabled craft, Kelley boldly maneuvered the monitor in which he was embarked to the exposed side of the protective cordon in direct line with the enemy's fire, and ordered the monitor to commence firing. An enemy rocket hit on the coxswain's flat, the shell penetrating the thick armor plate, and the explosion spraying shrapnel in all directions. Sustaining serious head wounds from the blast which hurled him to the deck, Lieutenant Commander. Kelley disregarded his injuries and attempted to continue directing the other boats. Although unable to move from the deck or to speak clearly into the radio, he succeeded in relaying his commands through one of his men until the enemy attack was silenced and the boats were able to move to an area of safety. |
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