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"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
02 May 68- Leroy N. Wright, SFC E-7 and Lloyd F. Mousseau, SSG E-6, USASF, and four (+) SCU Nungs, B-56, Recon Mission-KIA The team of three Americans and nine SCU Nungs was inserted into the Fishhook, Cambodia. Immediately upon insertion, engaged an enemy squad, shooting their way clear only to be engaged by a platoon size element a half hour later. The team was able to work their way back to the LZ; however, due to a massive number of NVA and heavy enemy fire pinned the team down and forced away any rescue attempt. The team was now engaged by several enemy companies using mortars, RPG, and machine guns. The team leader, Leroy Wright was struck in the head by a single enemy AK bullet, killing him. Lloyd Mousseau, one-one, and Brian O'Connor, one-two, were wounded several times. Half of the SCU Nungs were dead and the other half wounded. A one-man bright light team arrived, Roy Benavidez, a Yaqui Indian - Mexican AMERICAN, wounded immediately in the leg, continuing his rescue, bandaged the wounds and injecting morphine the best he could as he called in air strikes when wounded in the thigh. As he attempted to recover Wright’s body, he was wounded again through a lung, he pulled himself to his feet to discover a Huey lying on it’s side. Benavidez, then stumbled to LZ to assist those survivors and was shot again. Five minutes later, Benavidez was shot once more and another aircraft crashed. A lone helicopter then arrived with Ronald Sammons, a Green Beret medic, and assisted Benavidez recover the crew members and members of the recon team. During this process, while carrying Mousseau, Benavidez was clubbed in the head by an NVA AK, knocking Benavidez to his knees only to be butt-stroked in the face and then bayoneted through his left arm by the NVA soldier. Mousseau died on the helicopter and Benavidez survived to face a year of hospitalization mending a total of seven major gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel holes and a bayonet wound. Roy Benavidez died November 1998 of those wounds he suffered so many years ago and I believe his last written correspondence he wrote on the 17th day of November 1998, among other things he wrote: "I still have a dream which I look forward to fulfilling: as you know, Love for our Country and freedom for our loved ones runs deep in the American soldier’s blood. Prayerfully, I look forward to the time when a movie may be made of my life. There is so much to tell the American youth about struggles and perseverance that I firmly believe the real message could so easily reach them in a movie (story) of my life." Roy was the last recipient of the Medal Of Honor for the Vietnam War, being awarded to him by President Ronald Regan thirteen years after the fact. |