Alfred Velazquez Rascon

Medic crossed open trail through grenade fire

Alfred V. Rascon received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly entering enemy fire to rescue wounded soldiers during a battle in Vietnam’s Long Khánh Province on 16 March 1966. Though struck by bullets and grenade fragments, the Army medic carried casualties to safety, recovered ammunition and a machine gun for his pinned-down platoon, and shielded two more soldiers from grenade blasts.

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, on 10 September 1945, Rascon moved with his family to Oxnard, California, as a young child. He enlisted in the Army in August 1963, shortly before his eighteenth birthday, and trained as a medical specialist and paratrooper. Assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, he deployed to Vietnam in 1965 as a medic with the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment.

On the morning of the action, his reconnaissance platoon was moving to reinforce another battalion when a much larger enemy force opened fire. Rascon repeatedly ran or crawled across the exposed trail to reach wounded men. He placed his body between one machine-gunner and enemy fire, then dragged the larger soldier to cover. When another gunner ran low on ammunition, Rascon returned to take ammunition from the wounded man and later retrieved an abandoned machine gun, its ammunition and spare barrel. Despite serious wounds to his hip, face and torso, he continued aiding casualties. He covered a grenadier and a squad leader with his own body as grenades exploded, absorbing further wounds. After the enemy withdrew, Rascon treated the wounded and directed their evacuation; he accepted care only after he had been placed aboard the medical helicopter.

His platoon first secured a Silver Star for the action, but the Medal of Honor recommendation was lost in the paperwork. Decades later, former comrades renewed the effort, and President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor at the White House on 8 February 2000. Rascon later served as a commissioned Army officer, led the Selective Service System, and returned to Army Reserve service as a medical officer, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Medal of Honor citation: “Specialist Four Alfred Rascon distinguished himself by a series of extraordinarily courageous acts on 16 March 1966, while assigned as a medic to the Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate). While moving to reinforce its sister battalion under intense enemy attack, the Reconnaissance Platoon came under heavy fire from a numerically superior enemy force. The intense enemy fire from crew-served weapons and grenades severely wounded several point squad soldiers. Specialist Rascon, ignoring directions to stay behind shelter until covering fire could be provided, made his way forward. He repeatedly tried to reach the severely wounded point machine-gunner lying on an open enemy trail, but was driven back each time by the withering fire. Disregarding his personal safety, he jumped to his feet, ignoring flying bullets and exploding grenades to reach his comrade. To protect him from further wounds, he intentionally placed his body between the soldier and enemy machine guns, sustaining numerous shrapnel injuries and a serious wound to the hip. Disregarding his serious wounds, he dragged the larger soldier from the fire-raked trail. Hearing the second machine-gunner yell that he was running out of ammunition, Specialist Rascon, under heavy enemy fire, crawled back to the wounded machine-gunner, stripped him of his bandoleers of ammunition, and gave them to the machine-gunner, who continued his suppressive fire. Specialist Rascon, fearing the abandoned machine gun, its ammunition and spare barrel could fall into enemy hands, made his way to retrieve them. On the way, he was wounded in the face and torso by grenade fragments, but disregarded these wounds to recover the abandoned machine gun, ammunition and spare barrel, enabling another soldier to provide added suppressive fire to the pinned-down squad. In searching for the wounded, he saw the point grenadier being wounded by small-arms fire and grenades being thrown at him. Disregarding his own life and his numerous wounds, Specialist Rascon reached and covered him with his body, absorbing the blasts from the exploding grenades and saving the soldier’s life, but sustaining additional wounds. While making his way to the wounded point squad leader, grenades were hurled at the sergeant. Again, in complete disregard for his own life, he reached and covered the sergeant with his body, absorbing the full force of the grenade explosions. Once more Specialist Rascon was critically wounded by shrapnel, but disregarded his own wounds to continue to search and aid the wounded. Severely wounded, he remained on the battlefield, inspiring his fellow soldiers to continue the battle. After the enemy broke contact, he disregarded aid for himself, instead treating the wounded and directing their evacuation. Only after being placed on the evacuation helicopter did he allow aid to be given to him. Specialist Rascon’s extraordinary valor in the face of deadly enemy fire, his heroism in rescuing the wounded, and his gallantry by repeatedly risking his own life for his fellow soldiers are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.”

Sources: U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, AMEDD Medal of Honor Awardees, “Specialist Four Alfred V. Rascon”; Congressional Medal of Honor Society, “Alfred V Rascon”; U.S. Department of Defense, “Medal of Honor Monday: Army Maj. Alfred Rascon”; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Army Veteran Alfred Rascon”; Library of Congress, Veterans History Project, Alfred V. Rascon Collection.