Roy P. Benavidez - Medal of Honor: One Mans Journey From Poverty and Prejudice

Medal of Honor

MEMORIES OF WAR
Series

Outstanding memoirs that illustrate the personal realities of war as experienced by combatants and civilians alike, in recent conflicts as well as those of the distant past. Other titles in the series:

American Guerrilla: My War behind Japanese Lines
Roger Hilsman

Under Custers Command: The Civil War Journal of James Henry Avery
Karla Jean Husby and Eric J. Wittenberg

Escape With Honor: My Last Hours in Vietnam
Amb. Francis Terry McNamara with Adrian Hill

The Gulf Between Us: Love and Survival in Desert Storm
Cynthia B. Acree with Col. Cliff Acree, USMC

Hitlers Prisoners: Seven Cell Mates Tell Their Stories
Erich Friedrich and Renate Vanegas

Lieutenant Ramseys War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander
Edwin Price Ramsey and Stephen J. Rivele

B-17s over Berlin: Personal Stories from the 95th Bomb Group (H)
Ian Hawkins

Wake Island Pilot: A World War II Memoir
Brig. Gen. John F. Kinney, USMC (Ret.), with James M. McCaffrey

War in the Boats: My WWII Submarine Battles
Capt. William J. Ruhe, USN (Ret.)

White Tigers: My Secret War in North Korea
Col. Ben S. Malcom, USA (Ret.), with Ron Martz

One Mans Journey from Poverty and Prejudice

M. Sgt. Roy Benavidez, USA SF (Ret.)
with
John R. Craig

Foreword by H. Ross Perot

First Memories of War edition published in 2005.

Copyright 1995 by Roy Perez Benavidez and John R. Craig

First Brasseys paperback edition 1999

Published in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. (formerly Brasseys, Inc.). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Benavidez, Roy P.

Medal of Honor : one mans journey from poverty and prejudice / Roy Benavidez with John R. Craig ; foreword by H. Ross Perot.

p. cm (Memories of war)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-57488-692-4 (paperback)

1. Benavidez, Roy P. 2. United States. Army. Special ForcesBiography. 3. Medal of HonorBiography. 4. Vietnamese Conflict, 19611975Personal narratives, American. 5. Vietnamese Conflict, 19611975CampaignsCambodia. I. Craig, John R. II. Title. III. Series.

U53.B39A3 2003

959.7043373092dc21

[B] 2003052230

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in Canada

This book is respectfully dedicated to:

Those who honorably serve their country through military service
for the cause of freedom.

Those who serve by caring for and honoring their military.

Those who have lost loved ones in the fight for freedom.

Those men who died beside me on 2 May 1968: SP4 Michael Craig,
WO Larry McKibben, SSG Lloyd Mousseau, MSGT LeRoy Wright,
and the Civilian Independent Defense Group volunteers.

The POWs, MIAs and their families, for whom the cost of the
Vietnam War continues.

To Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. Thieme, Jr., USAF (Ret.),
Pastor/teacher at the Berachah Church in Houston, Texas, for his
writings and teachings on the principle of freedom through military victory.

February 24, 1981, was a special day in the life of Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez. On that day, the nation watched proudly as this brave soldier was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Ronald Reagan, a recognition given only to very special service members who have displayed courage well beyond that expected of our citizens.

I find Roys life one with which I can empathize and one that should make all Americans proud of the opportunities America offers to those strong enough to seize the chance. Roys is a classic study of success in Americaborn poor in South Texas, an orphan harassed for his mixed Mexican-Indian ancestry. As a boy, Roy was helped by his relatives and his community. As a young man, he found the U.S. Army the perfect place to exhibit his burning desire to contribute to the country he loved despite his difficult beginning. Sent to Vietnam as an adviser, he became known as Tango Mike/Mike, a radio call sign his fellow soldiers made up for That Mean Mexican. He was mean in the best sense: tough and burning to fight Americas and his units designated enemies. Roy soon earned a reputation for courage that bordered on recklessness, and he was wounded so badly that army doctors said he would be paralyzed for life. They didnt reckon with Tango Mike/Mike.

After months of grueling and determined rehabilitation, Roy Benavidez not only could walk, but qualified for the elite Army Special Forcesthe Green Berets. He was soon back in action in Southeast Asia, on the Vietnam-Cambodia border. It was here that he rose to the challenge that made him a respected member of a very special group of heroes. On the morning of May 2, 1968, twelve soldiers from his unit became trapped during a special reconnaissance mission in Cambodia that had been authorized under special presidential orders. This time, the troops were surrounded by a North Vietnamese regiment. Three helicopters tried to get them out but met such heavy fire that they were unable to land. It appeared we would lose those brave soldiersRoys friends. Guess who volunteered to climb into a helicopter to go help them? Tango Mike/Mike was on the way.

The rest is American history. Sergeant Benavidez and a small band of heroes came to the rescue. Despite numerous woundshe was shot five times, riddled with shrapnel, and bayoneted and clubbed during hand-to-hand combatRay returned again and again to lead the wounded survivors to the rescue chopper and retrieve the bodies of his dead comrades. In a final act of patriotism, he pushed his bullet-ridden body back to the ambushed soldiers highly classified documents and electronic gear and destroyed them to keep them out of enemy hands. Only then did he allow himself to be pulled into the helicopter.

The U.S. military does not just pin Medals of Honor on its heroes. Their actions have to be written up, documented, and passed through an appropriately difficult and skeptical review process. Because of the sensitive nature of the Green Berets reconnaissance mission in Cambodia, Roys medal did not come quickly, and as a result he became the last warrior of the Vietnam era to receive this great honor. That gave many of us the opportunity to enjoy an especially memorable day when President Reagan hung the medal around the neck of this great Mexican- Indian- American hero.

As a fellow Texan, I have known about and admired Roys courage and his fulfillment of the American dream. I was delighted to be asked to write this foreword for his inspirational, truly American story. It is one he tells to groups around the countryto veterans, to the military, and especially to future Medal of Honor recipients in the ranks of the less fortunate children of America. We remain very proud of him and his devotion to our country and his fellow soldiers. I am pleased to salute him as a special American.

H. Ross Perot

The unfailing formula for production of morale is patriotism, self-respect, discipline, and self-confidence within a military unit, joined with fair treatment and merited appreciation from without. It will quickly wither and die if soldiers come to believe themselves the victims of indifference or injustice on the part of their government, or of ignorance, personal ambition, or ineptitude on the part of their military leaders.