Untold Stories: Vietnam Veterans’ Day and Military Heroes

A sergeant who took out multiple enemy snipers and bunkers. A Navy officer who got his men to safety despite his own serious head wounds. A Catholic chaplain who died serving his Marines. A private who took the full force of a grenade to save his comrades. A helicopter commander who braved a fiery crash and enemy fire to rescue US troops. All heroes of the Vietnam War.

Today, March 29, is Good Friday 2024, but it is also annually marked as National Vietnam War Veterans’ Day. As I wrote last year, veterans of the Vietnam War are perhaps the most underappreciated veterans in American history. “There was no fanfare to greet us when we returned from the war…We might have been coming back from a walk to the corner grocery store,” recalled Capt. James R. McDonough. But even that doesn’t capture the full reality.

Vietnam veterans were actively vilified and attacked by radical “peace” activists when they came home, as were the veterans’ families. “Disrespect for Vietnam vets is fact, not fiction,” wrote Vietnam veteran Bob Feist. There are hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who were mocked instead of praised, attacked instead of celebrated, partly because US leaders made serious mistakes while fighting the terrorist Viet Cong and partly because the media lied. We need to set that wrong right.

I previously wrote about Fr. Vincent Capodanno, the Navy chaplain serving with U.S. Marines nicknamed the “Grunt Padre.” While Capodanno and his 5th Marines were serving in the “infamous” Que-Son Valley, they found themselves severely outnumbered by the vicious Communist Viet Cong. Fr. Capodanno insisted on going with the reinforcements to the thick of the fighting, and the fighting became so intense it was sometimes hand-to-hand. “Father Vince went among the wounded and dying, giving last rites and taking care of his Marines. Wounded once in the face and suffering another wound that almost severed his hand, he moved to help a wounded corpsman [medic] only yards from an enemy machine gun. Father Capodanno died taking care of one of his men.” The last Marine whom the priest helped before going to aid the medic recalled the chaplain telling him, “Stay quiet Marine. You will be ok. Someone will be here to help you soon. God is with us all this day.” It is peculiarly appropriate to remember Fr. Capodanno on this Good Friday, as one survivor of the battle, Corporal James Hamfeldt, compared the priest to Christ, since he gave his life to save others. “In my life,” Hamfeldt said of Fr. Capodanno, “he is a saint.”

Army Sgt. John Franklin Baker Jr. was en route in 1966 to help another unit already fighting when enemy fire opened on Baker and his comrades. Baker moved to the column’s head and he and another soldier remarkably managed to take out two enemy bunkers.

“When his comrade was mortally wounded, Sgt. Baker, spotting 4 Viet Cong snipers, killed all of them, evacuated the fallen soldier and returned to lead repeated assaults against the enemy positions, killing several more Viet Cong. Moving to attack 2 additional enemy bunkers, he and another soldier drew intense enemy fire and Sgt. Baker was blown from his feet by an enemy grenade. He quickly recovered and single-handedly destroyed 1 bunker before the other soldier was wounded. Seizing his fallen comrade’s machine gun, Sgt. Baker charged through the deadly fusillade to silence the other bunker. He evacuated his comrade, replenished his ammunition and returned to the forefront to brave the enemy fire and continue the fight.”

The forward element received the order to withdraw, so Baker carried a wounded man to the rear and went back to evacuate another. Snipers began firing at him but Baker attacked and killed the snipers!

“After evacuating the wounded man, he returned to cover the deployment of the unit. His ammunition now exhausted, he dragged 2 more of his fallen comrades to the rear. Sgt. Baker’s selfless heroism, indomitable fighting spirit, and extraordinary gallantry were directly responsible for saving the lives of several of his comrades, and inflicting serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.”

Read more stories of incredible heroism on Substack.