Hispanic-American Roy Benavidez, MOH Recipient
Fights Last Battle
Sent in by Veterans News and Information Services WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 30, 1998) - Army
Medal of Honor recipient retired Master Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez
died Nov. 29 at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio. He
was 63.
Benavidez, who'd been ill for some months, succumbed to
respiratory failure and other ailments, said his friend, retired Army
Master Sgt. Charlie Hoffman.
"Roy was a soldier to be emulated by those wearing the uniform,
and an example of a self-made person. He was born poor," said
Hoffman, the president of Chapter 15, Special Forces
Association, headquartered in San Antonio. "He was a role model
to many young Hispanics ... and made a lot of public appearances
at schools.
"Roy told young Hispanic teenagers they could make it to the top.
A school was named after him in Houston a couple of years ago,"
he said.
Thirty years ago in Vietnam Benavidez had challenged death and
won. On May 2, 1968 then-staff sergeant Benavidez would
"distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at
the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." In spite of
more than two-dozen debilitating wounds, he helped save the lives
of eight of his Special Forces comrades during helicopter
evacuations during a firefight with North Vietnamese regular forces
west of Loc Ninh.
After the firefight Benavidez was so mauled after receiving a
broken jaw and 37 bullet and bayonet puncture wounds in combat
with the enemy, that his commanding officer thought he wouldn't
live long enough to receive a Medal of Honor. The CO reasoned
that Benavidez would probably live to receive the DSM, since that
medal required less time and paperwork to obtain.
Benavidez received the Distinguished Service Medal from Gen.
William C. Westmoreland for his actions near Loc Ninh.
However, years later, Westmoreland learned more particulars of
Benavidez's heroics, and in 1981, the medal was upgraded to a
Medal of Honor. Benavidez received his Medal of Honor that
year from then-President Ronald Reagan in a White House
ceremony.
Of Mexican and Yaqui Indian ancestry, Benavidez later
co-authored a book about his life, "Medal of Honor - A Vietnam
Warrior's Story."
Benavidez was one of two hundred and thirty nine Americans who
received Medals of Honor for their service in Vietnam. To date,
4,121 Medals of Honor have been authorized, with Army
personnel receiving the majority.
Burial is scheduled Dec. 3 at the Fort Sam Houston National
Cemetery, where Benavidez will receive full military honors. A
wife and three daughters survive him.
by Gerry J. Gilmore
