Vietnam War Veteran Never Leaves his Comrade Behind [Image 23 of 25]

FORT BELVOIR, VA, UNITED STATES

09.06.2023

Photo by Bernardo Fuller 

Army Multimedia and Visual Information Division

Thomas McMahon, a former U.S. Army Ranger with the 75th Ranger Regiment and a member of a Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) team during the Vietnam War, carries with him a small urn preserving the ashes of his friend and former LRRP team leader, Sgt. Robert Paul Elsner at the National Museum of the U.S. Army on Fort Belvoir, Va., Sept. 6, 2023. Surrounded by enemy forces, Elsner led the four-man LRRP team who were rescued by Medal of Honor recipient former U.S. Army Capt. Larry L. Taylor near the hamlet of Ap Go Cong in Vietnam, June 18, 1968. Flying an AH-1G Cobra helicopter gunship, Taylor landed under heavy enemy fire and picked up the LRRP team, flying them to safety while the team sat on the rocket pods and skids of the gunship. McMahon said, “I carry Elsner’s ashes with me right here all the time. He was the best team leader you could have.” McMahon was not part of the operation mentioned above but made it to the museum to honor his friends and view Taylor’s name permanently engraved in granite along the south wall of the Medal of Honor Garden to identify and honor him as a recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor. (U.S. Army photo by Bernardo Fuller)

• Date Taken: 09.06.2023
• Date Posted: 09.15.2023 02:40
• Photo ID: 8023710
• VIRIN: 230906-A-AJ780-2023
• Resolution: 4911x3508
• Size: 12.89 MB
• Location: FORT BELVOIR, VA, US
• Hometown: CHATTANOOGA, TN, US