Vietnam – October 2019

GO

NE

NA

TIV

E:^ A

N^ N

CO

’S^ S

TOR

Y,^ A

LAN

G.^

COR

NET

T

bat, threw an M26 grenade into the bunker

where one of his commanders, Lt. Col. Don-

ald F. Bongers, was on duty. Cornett be-

lieved that Bongers had wronged him and

“deserved to die”—in a horrible and painful

way.

Born in Highland Park, Michigan, on

Aug. 9, 1944, Cornett grew up in a military

family. His father had been an Army infan-

\ZaWЅKMZ_PW[I_KWUJI\QV?WZTL?IZ11

and Korea. The son enlisted in February

1965 at age 20. Cornett went through ba-

sic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, fol-

lowed by advanced training at Fort Gor-

don, Georgia, for a military specialty. The

Army had decided that Cornett was to be a

military policeman. He next went to air-

borne school at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Once he got his parachute badge, Cor-

nett decided he did not want to be an MP

and volunteered for Special Forces train-

ing. He was sent to Fort Sam Houston in

Texas to be a Special Forces medic. After

successfully completing his schoolwork—and earning the right to

wear the green beret—Cornett attended an eight-week Vietnamese

language course and then shipped out.

His service in Vietnam began in August 1966. Cornett, now a ser-

geant, was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Operational Base at

Nha Trang, a port city in central South Vietnam. He was in Vietnam

for the next 6½ years, although he did return to the States for short

Green Beret Alan Cornett worked with

a South Vietnamese reconnaissance unit

led by Capt. Phong, left, in 1970.

Fragging is murder, and nothing can ever
justify the unlawful killing of a fellow war-
ZQWZJ]\\PM[\WZaWN;\IЄ;O\)TIV/+WZ-
VM\[PW_[\PI\[WUM\QUM[M^MVIPWZZQÅK
crime can be forgiven by the Army.
1V 6W^MUJMZ ! +WZVM\ I ;XMKQIT
Forces medic decorated for heroism in com-