Profiles of Valor: COL Joe Marm (USA)

“Our battalion commander, LTC Hal Moore, said, ‘We’re gonna go get them out with the entire unit.’ So we made a second attempt later in the afternoon. We prepped our positions as we were moving forward with artillery and mortar fire to try to silence the enemy. But the enemy was still there.” (Then-LTC Moore, a legendary 7th Cav Ranger, would also receive the Army’s second-highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his actions as Battalion commander that day.) Determined to take out the enemy himself, as he prepared to run across the field of fire, he told his men, “Don’t shoot me up.” He says, “I ran across about 30 meters of open terrain to the bunker. I threw a grenade over the top and ran around to the left side. There were still some bad guys who were trying to shoot me, but I was able to silence them. I told my men, ‘Come on, let’s go; we gotta get to the platoon that’s trapped.’”
But Joe’s description of his actions was understated. The fact is, Joe took out a total of 18 Viet Cong fighters in the two assaults before attempting to return to his own line, when he was shot in the face.