Medal of Honor effort renewed for Girard veteran
Credited with saving 13 soldiers in Vietnam
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GIRARD -- The time was 4:48 a.m. when the first of the satchel charges were lobbed at the men of Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry.
The savage before-dawn attack by the North Vietnamese Army atop a mountain in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam near the Laotian border killed six American soldiers.
Fourteen U.S. soldiers -- all wounded -- made it out alive when the 90-minute barrage ended. Among them was Ken David of Girard, who's credited with saving the lives of 13 of his comrades.
For his heroism on May 7, 1970, David was awarded the U.S. Army's second highest commendation of valor, the Distinguished Service Cross.
And now there is a renewed effort to award the 70-year-old the nation's highest award for valor and heroism, the Medal of Honor.
For years after the war, David avoided talking about his experiences but does so nowadays a bit more easily. Military documents and the man who is helping the effort to get David the Medal of Honor also help tell the series of harrowing events.
THE ATTACK
His platoon of 20 men arrived May 5 at the abandoned U.S. fire support base Maureen. May 6, they did some reconnaissance. All was quiet until 12 minutes before 5 a.m. on May 7.
That was when "all hell breaks loose," said Herm Breuer, director of Trumbull County Veteran Services, who for years has been trying to convince the Army of David's deservedness for the Medal of Honor.
The NVA saw the area was too much ground for the U.S. soldiers to control, "and came after us," David said.
There are reports there were more than 1,000 NVA soldiers and 300 sappers, what David explained were elite or special forces, against the small U.S. force.
David's lieutenant was the first to die. He was shot and killed instantly. David's sergeant also was injured, but remained alive. David, the group's radio / telephone operator, handed over the radio to his sergeant and took the fight to the enemy, laying down suppressive fire to draw the attention away from wounded American soldiers, Breuer said.
At one point he was alone to defend his portion of the defensive perimeter. His main objective was to stay alive.
"I just did what I was trained to do," David said.
The first rescue helicopter arrived about an hour into the fight. When it began to draw enemy fire while trying to land, David drew the attention back to himself by screaming and waving at NVA soldiers, according to Breuer.
David was wounded during the fight. He said shrapnel from a rocket- propelled grenade hit him in the back, and both of his eardrums had been blown out.
Still he continued to take the fight to the enemy. When the fighting began, he had 28 magazines of bullets. He was down to one when the fighting stopped, and at points during the battle, was throwing back satchel charges that were thrown by NVA soldiers.
"I did what I had to do. The instinct to survive was there," David said.
MEDAL OF HONOR
"If it weren't for his (David's) actions, all 20 would have died," Breuer said.
And that's why David deserves the Medal of Honor, Breuer said, and why a delegation of Ohio lawmakers have written U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy urging him to recommend and support David being awarded the prestigious medal.
The effort has been ongoing for about 20 years.
Requests have been submitted to the human resources command, but each was returned asking for more information, which was provided. In addition, personal visits were made to the military archives center in College Park, Md., and requests were made to retrieve records from other military records management centers.
"The original war-time chain of command was recreated. Two living eyewitnesses were located, and affidavits provided. This travesty of justice can stand no longer," the letter to McCarthy states.
"We ask that this case be given special attention and full reconsideration. Fifty years is too long given what this soldier did that morning to save the lives of his comrades. His bravery and gallantry that May morning are worthy of our nation's highest award," the letter states.
Signing on were U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan, D-Howland; Bill Johnson, R-Marietta; and David Joyce, R-Bainbridge.