WHAT TOOK SO LONG? Soldier Receives Medal of Honor for 1969 Battle

Yesterday, President Donald Trump awarded his first Congressional Medal of Honor.  71-year-old James McCloughan received the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony. 

From Legal Insurrection:

In 1969, 23-year-old James McCloughan served as a private first class combat medic in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. But at Tam Ky, the enemy constantly fired upon his unit for 48 hours.

McCloughan did not stop fighting. He risked his life and managed to save 10 fellow soldiers on nine occasions during those two days.

For that heroic behavior, President Donald Trump awarded McCloughan with the Medal of Honor.

The Chicago Tribune described what happened that day:

The operation began May 13, 1969. That morning, elements of McCloughan’s unit — Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade — were flown into the foliage near Tam Ky, a city along Vietnam’s central coast. They came under immediate attack, and two U.S. helicopters were shot down.

“It was a hot LZ,” McCloughan said in his interview with the Army. He was referring to the helicopter landing zone where he and the others were unloaded. “The minute that we got there, we were fired upon.”

McCloughan joined a squad of soldiers sent to locate one of the helicopter crews, according to the Army’s summary of action for his Medal of Honor. When they arrived at the crash site, he spotted a soldier too injured to move. As his squad mates exchanged fire with North Vietnamese, McCloughan sprinted to reach the man, hoisted him onto his shoulder and carried him to safety.

Later, McCloughan’s platoon sustained heavy casualties when they were ambushed by a larger North Vietnamese force while scouting a nearby hill. With U.S. airstrikes falling nearby, he left his weapon behind and ran toward two unarmed soldiers who were pinned down.

While assessing them for injuries, McCloughan was sprayed with shrapnel from the blast of a rocket-propelled grenade. He carried the men to safety despite his wounds.

But wait, there's more!

He encountered a soldier who had been shot in the stomach, patched him up as best he could and “carried him like a baby” into a nearby trench where he would be safe. A machine-gunner had been shot through the shoulder. McCloughan treated him and moved him to the trench. There were four or five others in really bad shape, he recalled. McCloughan brought them into the trench too, hopeful they could be saved.

That night, when the soldiers had run low on ammunition, McCloughan volunteered to crawl into the open carrying a light so a helicopter carrying their gear could locate them. But the resupply never came. He continued to treat casualties into the next morning, helping fend off attacks and keeping two seriously wounded soldiers alive. At last, that afternoon, he helped gather the dead and wounded so the unit could be evacuated.

After the war, McCloughan taught high school for forty years at South Haven (Michigan) High School.  In addition to teaching, he coached the football, baseball and wrestling teams.  Talk about a national treasure as a teacher.  

A true American hero.

Thank you for your service, sir!