Nicky Daniel Bacon

He led two platoons through a storm of enemy fire at Tam Ky.

Nicky Daniel “Nick” Bacon was born in Caraway, Arkansas, on November 25, 1945. His family moved to Arizona when he was young, and he left school to help support them after his father contracted polio. Inspired by an uncle’s stories of World War II, Bacon entered the Arizona National Guard at seventeen in 1963. He moved to active Army service the following year, served with the 8th Infantry Division in Germany and volunteered for Vietnam.

His first Vietnam tour, from 1966 to 1967, brought three combat injuries and a helicopter crash that left only two survivors. Bacon nevertheless volunteered to return. In 1968, as a staff sergeant with Company B, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, he led a squad in the 1st Platoon.

On August 26, 1968, Company B was sent west of Tam Ky to aid American forces under attack. When an enemy bunker line stopped the advance, Bacon organized his soldiers, led them forward and destroyed a bunker with grenades. Machine gun fire then wounded several men, including his platoon leader, in an exposed position. Bacon immediately assumed command, attacked the hostile gun position and killed its crew in a singlehanded assault.

When the 3rd Platoon reached his position and its leader was also wounded, Bacon took command of that platoon as well. He continued the attack, killed four more enemy soldiers and silenced an antitank weapon. Under intense fire, he climbed onto the exposed deck of a tank and directed its fire while wounded soldiers were evacuated. His leadership enabled Company B to eliminate the enemy positions, move forward and rescue men trapped beyond the line.

Bacon received the Distinguished Service Cross several weeks after the battle. President Richard Nixon presented him with the Medal of Honor at the White House on November 24, 1969. His career decorations also included the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, the Air Medal and four Army Commendation Medals.

After the Medal of Honor presentation, Bacon requested another Vietnam tour, but the Army declined. He continued serving in recruiting, training and overseas assignments before retiring in 1984 as a first sergeant after twenty-one years. He later led the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs and helped establish the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery and Arkansas Veterans Coalition. Bacon died on July 17, 2010, and was buried with full military honors in the cemetery he had helped create.