Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez, 1935-1998

Yesterday was Veterans’ Day in America. We honor and respect each veteran, of every branch, of every theater, whether at peace or at war.  God Bless Them All. 

Today I choose one to focus upon,  a special Texan and Congressional Medal of Honor winner.  I only learned of Roy Benavidez’s story when President Reagan presented him with the medal in 1981.  It has been 43 years and I remain standing in awe of this man’s bravery and toughness.

Born on Aug. 5, 1935, to poor sharecroppers in Cuero, Texas, Roy Perez Benavidez lost both of his parents by the age of 7 and was raised by his aunt and uncle. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school to help support his family, picking sugar beets and cotton. As a high school dropout with few prospects, Benavidez joined the Texas National Guard at 17 during the Korean War. Two years later, he joined the active duty infantry and completed rotations in South Korea and Germany before attending Military Police (MP) training in 1959.

After graduating from the MP course, Benavidez was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed to Vietnam as an advisor by 1965. On a patrol with a South Vietnamese Army Regiment, Benavidez stepped on a land mine and “woke up in the Philippine Islands, in Clark Air Force Base,” paralyzed from the waist down. When he arrived at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, doctors broke the worst of the news: the damage to his spine was too severe. Benavidez learned that he might never walk again, and would be medically discharged from the Army.

and,

On his return to the 82nd Airborne, Benavidez could barely walk. By the end of six months, he could run 10 miles with a rucksack. After completing Special Forces selection in 1967 and training as a weapons expert, Benavidez earned an assignment to 5th Special Forces Group and returned to Vietnam. Once there, Benavidez requested assignment to Detachment B-56, under the control of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group. In April 1968, Benavidez narrowly escaped a patrol with his life thanks to Sgt. 1st Class LeRoy Wright’s intervention. Benavidez and Wright had known each other in the 82nd Airborne Division, gone through Special Forces Selection together, and found themselves reunited in Detachment B-56.

plus,

With the helicopter unable to land, and realizing the team on the ground would be unable to reach them anyway, Benavidez jumped into what he later described as “six hours in hell.” While running about 75 yards to the team’s position, Benavidez was shot in the leg and a hand grenade explosion struck his head and face with shrapnel. Upon reaching the team, he reorganized the remaining forces on the ground, stabilized the wounded, and armed himself with an AK-47 from one of the four dead Montangards. He then signaled the helicopters for extraction.

It doesn’t end here, not for a long while.

If a film director in Hollywood were to make this into a movie, no one would believe it is true.

In 1976, Benavidez, his wife, and their three children returned home to El Campo, Texas. He devoted his remaining years to the youth of America, speaking to them about the importance of staying in school and getting an education. His message was simple: “An education is the key to success. Bad habits and bad company will ruin you.”

In 1983, Benavidez told the press that the Social Security Administration planned to cut off disability payments he had been receiving since his retirement, as well as the disability payments for thousands of other veterans. He went to Capitol Hill and pleaded with the House Select Committee on Aging to abandon their plans, which they finally did.

I remember seeing news clips of Benavidez’s testimony and being shocked by the cruelty of the federal government at the time.