รอย เบดาวิเดซ - ชายผู้เข้าไปในสมรภูมิรบด้วยมีดเพียงเล่มเดียว Valor Tactical

This is the true story of a U.S. Special Forces warrior named Roy Bedavidez.

"Roy Benavidez - Roy Benavidez"

Roy Bedavidez was born on August 5, 1935. Since childhood, Roy's life has not been smooth. Roy's parents died when he was young. Roy was raised by his grandfather, uncle and aunt instead. He had to drop out of school when he was 15 so that Roy could work to support his family.

Roy began his military career in 1952 when he joined the Texas Army National Guard during the Korean War. In 1955 , he transferred to the Army and joined the 82nd Airborne Division . Roy trained and applied to be a Green Beret, where he passed the test and was selected as a Green Beret. Roy was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group. In 1959 , he married Hiraria Benavidez.

"Roy Bedavides when he was training at parachute school"

In 1965 , Roy was sent to South Vietnam as a military advisor to the South Vietnamese Army. During that time, he was on a secret mission, a solo reconnaissance mission, where he was required to dress as a Viet Cong and investigate whether the North Vietnamese were helping the Viet Cong. During his reconnaissance, he stepped on a landmine, which knocked him unconscious. Around that time, Roy was found by a U.S. Marine patrol. The U.S. Marines initially thought Roy's body was a trap, but when they turned Roy over, they discovered that the man in the Viet Cong uniform was not Asian, but Hispanic, and had U.S. Army dog ​​tags on him. The Marines removed Roy from the area.

"Roy Benavidez - Roy Benavidez"

Roy woke up again at the U.S. Army hospital at Clark Air Force Base, Philippines. At that point, Roy was paralyzed from the legs down and could not move. When Roy was sent to the United States for treatment, the doctor told Roy that he would " never walk again " and that he would be discharged. Nevertheless, every night, Roy crawled out of bed using only his " elbows " and " chin " and crawled to the wall. Then Roy would try to make himself stand parallel to the wall. Roy did this for months without anyone helping until he could start to wiggle his toes and later his feet. Finally, Roy could stand parallel to the wall. After staying in the hospital for almost a year, in July 1966, Roy walked out of the hospital with his wife. Even though he was still injured, Roy insisted on going back to fight in Vietnam. It was not until January 1968 that Roy returned to South Vietnam. Along with the new call sign “Tango Mike Mike” or “TMM” , Roy himself chose the code letters because he wanted it to mean That Mean Mexican.

"US Special Forces base of operations in Loc Ninh"

On May 2, 1968 , while Roy was meditating on his daily words, he heard a panicked cry for help on the radio. It was from the front lines in Loc Ninh, near the Cambodian border. It was a 12- man reconnaissance team, including three US soldiers : Sergeant Lloyd Frenchy Musso , Specialist ( 4 ) Brian O'Connor, SFC Leroy Wright, and nine other Hmong soldiers from the CIDG program, of whom Leroy was also a close friend. While they were on a reconnaissance mission, they were surrounded by a battalion of North Vietnamese soldiers. At that time, three helicopters were sent but they were unable to evacuate the 12 soldiers due to heavy fire. When Roy heard the panic of his comrades, he did not hesitate to board a helicopter that was about to fly back to the position of the 12 soldiers. He only took a Bowie knife and some medical bags.

Sergeant Major Leroy Wright (SFC.Leroy Wright)

SSG.Lloyd Frenchy Musso

Because the patrol team was surrounded by North Vietnamese soldiers, the helicopter had to land about 70 meters away from their position. As the helicopter landed, Roy jumped and ran to the point where the patrol team was fighting. While running, Roy was shot in the right leg by the first bullet, but he kept running. He found Lloyd first. Lloyd was leaning against a tree. He was shot in the right eye, causing his eye to hang out, but he still returned fire. Roy treated Lloyd's wounds. Then he gradually brought the surviving people he found to one place to reinforce the defensive position and gave morphine to the other wounded. He then saw Brian and the Hmong interpreter far away from the defensive position. He told them to crawl to him, but the North Vietnamese were pressing too hard for them to crawl out. So they just lay there. Another bullet was shot in the thigh, but because of the adrenaline flowing at that time, he did not feel anything. Roy threw a green smoke grenade to let the helicopter land to pick up the wounded. He later used an enemy AK rifle to return fire, allowing Brian and the Hmong interpreter to crawl out of their position and onto a helicopter. Roy eventually found Leroy's body, which had been shot dead, along with documents and other important equipment that had not fallen into the hands of the enemy. While dragging Leroy to the helicopter, Roy was shot in the stomach and hit by shrapnel from a grenade that had exploded near his position. The explosion knocked him unconscious for a moment. When he came to, he quickly realized that he could not drag his friend's body, so Roy was forced to abandon his friend's body.

"Hmong soldiers in the US CIDG program"

As if to make matters worse, the helicopter that had picked up the injured had crashed to the ground due to enemy fire. Five soldiers, including Le Loy, survived the crash. Brian and the Hmong interpreter were safe because they did not board the plane. The injured Roy gradually carried the survivors out of the wreckage and established a rally point at the crash site. F-100 fighter jets provided air support by dropping napalm bombs on the enemy position at intervals. After Roy gave Brian his third dose of morphine, he was shot in the left leg. As the situation worsened, the helicopters finally arrived. Roy and the rescue team gradually loaded the injured onto the helicopters, but the landing area was still under heavy fire from the North Vietnamese and was getting close to their position, so much so that one North Vietnamese soldier used the wooden butt of an AK rifle to hit Roy in the jaw. However, Roy fought back by stabbing the Vietnamese soldier with his Bowie knife. He then returned to the battle area and brought out the last Hmong soldier and collected secret documents. By this point, Roy had multiple wounds all over his body, including an eye that was hard to see due to the blood in it and a broken jaw. On top of everything, his intestines were leaking out from the wound on his stomach, which Roy had used his hands to support his entrails. When everyone was on board, Roy allowed the rescuers to drag him onto the plane, ending his six hours in hell.

"There were 37 wounds on Roy's body."

When the helicopter landed at the base, the doctors and medical staff rushed to help the injured immediately and sorted out the injured. The bodies of the deceased were gradually put into body bags, one of which was Roy's. Roy was still alive at that time but could not open his eyes because the dried blood was covering his eyes. Roy did not have enough strength to open his eyes with his own hands. Roy's friend who recognized Roy shouted, " That's Roy, call the doctor quickly. " When the doctor arrived, the doctor checked Roy's pulse, but the doctor said that there was nothing the doctor could do. While the doctor was unzipping the body bag, Roy gathered his last strength and spat in the doctor's face. The doctor then said, " He might survive. " In total, Roy had 37 wounds all over his body from bullets, bayonets, and shrapnel. Roy was later taken for surgery at the Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, United States.

"Receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from General William Westmoreland"

Roy's heroic actions in which he saved eight lives ( four Hmong soldiers died ) earned him the Distinguished Service Cross and four Purple Hearts . In 1981 , due to the lengthy process involved, Roy was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Ronald Reagan, who said, " If his story of heroism were made into a movie script, you wouldn't believe it. "

"Photograph with President Ronald Reagan after the Medal of Honor ceremony"

Roy Benavidez died on November 19, 1998, at the age of 63 , at Brookline Army Medical Center from respiratory failure and complications from diabetes. He was buried at Camp Sam Houston Cemetery in Texas, United States.

"The USNS Benavidez, named in honor of Roy Benavidez."

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