Medal of Honor recipients visit troops

Photo By Sgt. Stephen Decatur | Medal of Honor recipient Don Jenkins speaks to Paratroopers of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, April 23, at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. Jenkins told Paratroopers about his life in the Army as a draftee, and how he came to receive a Medal of Honor.  

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN

04.23.2010

Story by Sgt. Stephen Decatur 

4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

By Sgt. Stephen Decatur

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Keeping a diverse group of people in one spot for a history lesson is usually not an easy task. But for retired Lt. Col. Alfred Rascon, holding the attention of a group of Paratroopers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division for a lecture on the Medal of Honor, April 23, at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan was like catching fish in a barrel.

That's because Rascon has his own history with the medal. In March 1966, Spc. Four Rascon, a medic with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was serving in Vietnam. His platoon came under attack while reinforcing another unit and several men were wounded by crew-served weapons and grenades. Rascon repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire in order to treat his wounded comrades and bring them out of harm's way. He was wounded several times by shrapnel in the process, using his own body as a shield to protect his fellow Soldiers. Rascon was nominated for a Medal of Honor for his actions, but was instead awarded a Silver Star, the third highest decoration for valor in combat.

At a 173rd Airborne reunion twenty years later, Rascon's former platoon members were shocked to find that he never received a Medal of Honor. They lobbied for him in Washington D.C., but the Department of Defense considered the case too old to reopen. Finally, after President Bill Clinton convinced the DoD to take another look, Rascon was awarded a Medal of Honor in February 2000, nearly 34 years after the action took place. Rascon continued to serve in the reserve long after Vietnam and earned both the Afghanistan and Iraq campaign medals.

Rascon said that although many Soldiers have performed many courageous acts, few get a Medal of Honor because the circumstances have to be just right for someone to get recognized.

"You get the Medal of Honor because someone recognized you, and wanted the American people to know what you did," Rascon said.

Meeting Rascon and fellow Medal of Honor recipient Don Jenkins was a once in a lifetime opportunity for many of the Paratroopers who were at the visit. Pfc. Corie Gibson of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. felt inspired to see the recipients, she said. If they can have so much courage, Gibson said, then young Paratroopers on the battlefield risking their lives today can show the world they have it too.

"It takes a lot of courage to win a Medal of Honor," Gibson said. "And a lot of us have the courage to do what we need to do. These men were young, and they went and they did what they needed to do."

Capt. Michael Fish, commander of HHC, 4th BCT, 82nd Abn. Div., said he walked away from the visit with a sense of awe that someone who had already done so much for their country would take the time to come to Afghanistan just to talk to Soldiers.

"It was pretty selfless to come here for the troops," Fish said. "It was a really nice gift."

Paratroopers were particularly captivated by Jenkins, a man with a slightly different personality than Rascon. Even at 62, Jenkins made it clear to everyone that he still has a tough attitude. A Kentucky coal miner who was drafted into the Army, Jenkins spoke about how his rebellious nature and individuality often landed him in trouble, and how he wouldn't have had it any other way.

In January 1969, Jenkins was serving in Vietnam when his platoon was ambushed from prepared enemy positions around their helicopter landing zone. Even though he was exposed to enemy fire, Jenkins suppressed the attack with his machinegun until it jammed, then continued suppressing the enemy with a rifle until his assistant gunner could correct the jam. He repeatedly risked his life throughout the fight to find more ammunition. Jenkins eventually destroyed two enemy bunkers with anti-tank weapons he found on a fallen comrade and continued to fight with a grenade launcher he picked up on the battlefield. By sunset he was wounded by shrapnel and completely out of ammunition, but he refused to stop fighting; he dragged four wounded comrades to safety before being evacuated the next morning.

Jenkins claims to be the only man to be recommended for a Medal of Honor and read a sentence for non-judicial punishment less than 24 hours later.

To get a Medal of Honor "you need to do something outrageous, someone has to see it, and somebody has to be able to write," Jenkins said.

For Fish, like most people, it's hard to say what it really takes to be awarded a Medal of Honor.

"It's almost unfathomable to understand what inspired them," Fish said. "Their love for their brothers must have been something for them to go well beyond the call of duty."

• Date Taken: 04.23.2010
• Date Posted: 05.05.2010 00:53
• Story ID: 49142
• Location: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF