Both times, the defenders responded with
mortar rounds. The loudspeaker fell silent.
As daylight approached, the enemy fire began
to slacken for good. Donlon sat down on
an ammunition box and grudgingly allowed
Sergeant First Class Vernon Beeson to dress
his multiple wounds. Walking out of Beeson’s
mortar pit toward a temporary command post,
Donlon was knocked down by yet another
grenade explosion. Once again, he gathered
himself – too tired to crouch – and walked on.
Fifty yards away, he spotted a few Viet Cong
behind the cover of some tree stumps. He yelled
to Woods, “Can you drop an 81 on them that
close, Woody?” The response was affirmative,
and the stumps were blasted. After that, the
Battle of Nam Dong petered out. The defenders
had held at a cost of 57 South Vietnamese dead,
along with Alamo, Houston, and Conway. The Viet
Cong lost at least 60 killed and scores wounded.
Donlon and the other wounded defenders
were evacuated to a hospital. Alamo received a Images:Alamy,GettyStaff Sergeant Merwin ‘Woody’ Woods, who
held on grimly. “Woody took the news without
a word of comment. But I know now that he
thought it was the death sentence for all of
us,” recalled Donlon.
As quickly as possible, the wounded captain
checked another 60mm mortar pit to the
east and then decided to return to the area
around the main gate. En route, he heard the
welcome drone of aircraft engines. The time
was 4.04am, and the defenders of Nam Dong
had been fighting without respite for more than
90 minutes. The flare ship dropped illumination
that exposed the Viet Cong to more accurate
fire and caused the pace of the attack to falter.
Their fire weakened, but they were not finished.
A loudspeaker crackled to life, and a voice
stuttered a warning in Vietnamese, demanding
surrender and otherwise promising certain
death. Again, the loudspeaker blared. This time
in English, “We are going to annihilate your
camp. You will all be killed!”
RogeR H.C. Donlon
posthumous Distinguished Service Cross, while
four members of Team A-726 were awarded the
Silver Star, and five the Bronze Star with ‘V’ for
valour. Nine soldiers received the Purple Heart.
As word of the fight at Nam Dong made
headlines in American newspapers, Donlon’s
heroism brought significant recognition. He
became the first of 258 men to receive the
Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam and the
first member of the Special Forces to receive
the decoration. President Lyndon Johnson
presented the medal during a ceremony at the
White House on 5 December 1964.
After the Nam Dong fight, Team A-726 was
reactivated and included several veterans of
the desperate action. Donlon went on to serve
30 years in the US Army, retiring in 1988 with
the rank of colonel. He is the author of two
books on his Vietnam experience, and the epic
struggle at Nam Dong provided the impetus for
the memorable combat sequence in the 1968
feature film The Green Berets.Captain Roger H.C. Donlon stands at
attention during President Johnson’s
remarks during the Medal of Honor
ceremony on 5 December 1964