Ray McKibben

He rushed bunkers and rescued a wounded man under enemy fire

Ray McKibben was born at Felton, Georgia, on 27 October in the mid-1940s. He entered the United States Army from Atlanta in 1967. After training he went to Vietnam and served as a sergeant in Troop B, 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry, an airmobile reconnaissance unit.

In December 1968, near Song Mao, he led the point element of a patrol along a trail. When fire from a fortified bunker forced the men to cover, he charged through bamboo and brush, killed the gunner and captured the weapon. The patrol resumed its movement after helicopter gunships dealt with another threat.

Further along the route, concealed bunkers opened fire again. McKibben saw one of his men fall wounded and went out under fire to pull him behind rocks, where he gave first aid. With the patrol still pinned down, he attacked the bunkers himself.

He destroyed one position with rifle fire. After his ammunition ran out during the next assault, he used a captured enemy weapon and then grenades to silence another bunker. He reloaded and covered the advance before attacking a further position. Although mortally wounded as he approached it, he fired a final burst that enabled the patrol to continue its assault.

His Medal of Honor recognised the repeated attacks and rescue that saved fellow soldiers and allowed the patrol to complete its mission. President Richard Nixon presented the posthumous decoration to his family at the White House on 7 April 1970. McKibben was buried in Center Baptist Church Cemetery at Felton, near his family.