Vietnam medic gets Medal of Honor 34 years late

Rascon receives the Medal of Honor on Tuesday, 34 years after his battalion mates recommended him

February 8, 2000
Web posted at: 3:07 p.m. EST (2007 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Rascon is bashful about the Medal of Honor he'll receive from President Clinton on Tuesday, three decades after a skirmish in Vietnam's Long Khanh province.

"The honor is not mine," Rascon said. "The honor is that of the people who were with me in Vietnam.

It's an honor long overdue: Rascon was nominated for the medal in the early years of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. His papers were lost in the Pentagon shuffle for three decades before the men with whom he served found out the honor was never granted.

VIDEO Reporter Jonathan Aiken talks with Rascon and relives his heroic actions. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD The U.S. military

They say Rascon's receipt of the nation's highest combat decoration is just their way of returning the favor.

Rascon was a battalion medic with the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade on March 16th, 1966, when his unit was attacked by North Vietnamese troops. In the fighting that ensued, Rascon repeatedly ran into the line of fire -- treating three men, saving two of them -- despite being wounded himself.

"I happened to have gotten shot, happened to have gotten hit by a hand grenade," he said. "So..."

Then-Pvt. Neil Haffey was one of those who credit the self-effacing Rascon with their lives. Already wounded, Rascon dove on him as a grenade exploded just five feet away.

Rascon, center, saved two men and treated three others while under fire

"I didn't even know he was gonna do it, and I just turned my head away because I didn't want to see death coming," Haffey said. "I thought I was dead, you know?"

Rascon's heroism turned the tide, rallying his battalion and saving his men, who were carried out of the field by helicopter. Rascon spent six months in Japan recovering from his wounds and received the Silver Star.

His battalion mates recommended him for the Medal of Honor. A few years ago, they discovered Rascon never got his award.

The citation was lost in the Pentagon bureaucracy, and the Army refused to re-open the case. The men of the 173rd turned to Illinois U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, who caught Clinton's ear and won a change of heart from the Army.

"Usually, they had to be considered within two years of the acts," said Evans, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Rascon -- now living in Washington's Maryland suburbs and the inspector general for the Selective Service -- insists the rest of his squad displayed as much courage as he did that day, but his old comrades -- many of whom will join him Tuesday at the White House -- see it differently.

"I have four daughters, and four beautiful grandchildren. I have a wonderful wife," Haffey said. "Those are all gifts from Doc."

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Medal of Honor Citations
  • Vietnam War Medal Of Honor Recipients (M-Z)
The Society of the 173D Airborne Brigade
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veterans.house.gov - House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

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