Posted on Oct 2, 2020
Harrowing tale of Green Beret’s Vietnam valor drives push for Medal of Honor
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Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 9
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A lot of us who were in Viet Nam during that period knew about CPT Albracht and many others who earned decorations for valor that were not as high as they should have been. For many SFers, it was no more than just doing our day-to-day jobs. We were expected to do our best, to give our all and not worry about any accolades. However, there was a concensus that many ARCOM w/V, many BS w/V and so forth should have been higher awards and decorations than they were. I served with a two-time DSC awardee who should have been awarded the MOH on at least one of the occasions according to his citation. I sincerely hope that CPT Albracht is finally awarded the MOH. He earned it hands down. SGT Robert Pryor SGT John Melvin
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SGT Robert Pryor
I was so pissed of that my Detachment Commander, 1LT John J. Parda, was only awarded the Bronze Star w/V. Without getting into the daring-do BS, you can imagine what a great job he did in saving the day, to include my life. There were only four USSF in camp, and three VNSF (who were off hiding some place). We had one USSF that was on permanent profile due to a back injury, one ancient old soldier (39 years old) and me -- a pathetic green troop. Our regular camp strikers were gone, leaving us with only the sick, lame and lazy, plus maybe 200 women and children. We were attacked by between 100 and 200 Commies, some of which had managed to infiltrate the perimeter. Our stuff was weak, to say the least. Through john's leadership we evicted the unwanted guests and dispatched the rest. The guy on profile stayed in the inner compound and earned the Silver Star. The guy who finally found me worked both the inner and outer compound, and also earned the Silver Star. So there is no way on God's green earth John Parda didn't earn at least the Silver Star, or perhaps the DSC. And if you think I earned my DSC, then John certainly earned the Medal Of Honor because through his leadership and skill as a fighter, all four of us lived to see another day -- unlike so many of our uninvited guests that night.
SGT John Melvin MSG Felipe De Leon Brown
SGT John Melvin MSG Felipe De Leon Brown
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MSG Felipe De Leon Brown
My sentiments exactly. You know that 5th Group had the highest count per capita of valor awards than every other unit in Viet Nam. I never received any orders for any but as far as I was concerned, I was very happy to know combat without being WIA or KIA. The irony was when SSG Jeff Kusterer fm Spokane WA and I came back in April 1970, there was a SP5 Awards & Decorations clerk fm Group HQs who had a BS w/OLC after just 11 months. Jeff had to grab me to keep me from kicking his phony REMF butt.
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Interesting share. I did not know the man, but maybe MSG Felipe De Leon Brown or SGT John Melvin might me familiar with him.
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