Roy Benavidez and President Reagan Prior to Receiving the Medal of Honor
Master Sergeant Raul (Roy) Benavidez is an incredible example of American heroism and determination. Born near Cuero, Texas in 1935, Benavidez's birth parents had both died of tuberculosis by the time he was 7 years old. After this he and his younger brother moved to El Campo with their grandfather, aunt, uncle and 8 cousins. Roy worked odd jobs while he was living with his aunt and uncle, and eventually dropped out of school at 15 in order to help support the family. When he was about 17 he enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard, and, 3 years later, transferred to Army active duty. Eventually Benavidez began training for the elite Army Special Forces, and became a member of the 5th Special Forces Group and the Studies and Operations Group.In 1965, Roy was sent to Vietnam, and while there he stepped on a land mine. His injuries were so bad he was sent back to the U.S., and told he would never walk again. While back home he says that he was hurt by the diagnosis, as well as the flag burnings and criticism of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. So, every night he would get out of his bed, against doctor's orders, and using his elbows and chin would crawl to the window sill by his bed. Once there he would rest his hands on the windowsill and try to raise himself up, by first wiggling his toes, and then feet, and finally, after months of excruciating pain attempting these exercises, he pushed himself up with his feet and legs. In July of 1966, after over a year of hospitalization, Roy walked out of that hospital with his wife at his side, determined to get back to Vietnam.
Roy made it back in January of 1968, despite the pain from his wounds. In May of that year a 12 man Special Forces patrol was out when they were surrounded by a North Vietnamese Battalion. Hearing their radio call for help Benavidez rushed into what would later be called his "6 hours in hell." After a few other attempts to extract the team had previously failed, Benavidez had boarded a returning helicopter to the area in order to help with the extraction. After realizing that most of the patrol was either dead or wounded he directed the helicopter pilot towards a clearing nearby, and jumped from the helicopter armed only with his knife, and a medical bag. From the helicopter he ran approximately 75 meters to the patrol, and was shot in the leg, face, and head while doing so.
Despite these horrific injuries, Roy took charge, reorganizing the teams fire in order to help the landing of an extraction helicopter, and also organized for the moving of the dead and wounded. After throwing smoke signals to direct the aircraft, he carried and dragged half of the wounded men back to the awaiting aircraft. He then ran alongside the helicopter, giving covering fire, as it repositioned to load the other wounded. After this he went to the dead team leader and ensured he brought both him and the classified documents he carried back to the helicopter. While getting the team leader he was shot in the abdomen and was hit by grenade fragments in his back. At the same time the pilot was hit and the helicopter he flew crashed.
Benavidez made his way back to the helicopter and helped save the wounded from the wreckage while also establishing a defensive perimeter. After this he passed around more ammunition and water, strengthening the morale of his troops. He then called in for airstrikes and supporting fire from gunships nearby. Right before another extraction helicopter landed, Benavidez was shot again in the thigh while administering first aid. While carrying a wounded soldier to the helicopter he was clubbed from behind by an enemy soldier. He struggled with his adversary, and got clubbed in the head and arm, but eventually beat the North Vietnamese soldier, and continued loading the wounded. Once he had loaded the wounded he saw 2 soldiers sneaking up on the helicopter from where the door gunner could not see them, and shot them. Benavidez then went back to the area where they were pinned down to ensure no one was left behind. Finally, he made it back to the helicopter and hopped in himself.
When they got back to Loc Ninh, their staging area, Roy was so grievously wounded, the doctors placed him in a body bag. Benavidez was too weak to even say anything to them as they began zipping the bag. But, a friend of Benavidez dragged another doctor over and told him to check on Roy, and when Roy felt the doctors hand on his chest he spit right in his face. It was the only thing he could do to let them know he was still alive! Because of Roy's actions, the lives of 8 men and were saved, and classified documents were kept out of the enemies hands. He spent over a year recovering from his wounds, and then traveled around telling people his story until he died in 1998. Benavidez wasn't awarded the Medal of Honor until 1981, when one of the men he saved realized Benavidez was still alive and so submitted the necessary eye-witness report for the award. When prompted by the question "Would you do it all again?" Benavidez would reply: "There'll never be enough paper to print the money, nor enough gold in Fort Knox for me, to have to keep me from doing what I did. I'm proud to be an American, and even prouder to earn the privilege to wear the green beret."
