The Vietnam War’s Inaugural Medal of Honor Awardee, Roger H.C. Donlon, has passed away on January 25, just five days before his 90th birthday.
Upon enlisting in the Army in 1958, Roger H.C. Donlon, already acquainted with military life from a stint in the Air Force in 1953, embarked on a journey that would lead him to become the first Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War. Leaving the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1957 after initially enrolling, Donlon chose to pursue his destiny in the Army. Following Officer Candidate School, he qualified for Special Forces and was deployed to Vietnam in 1964.
It was in July of that year that he displayed exceptional courage and tenacity in defending an Americal training camp, earning him the prestigious Medal of Honor, the highest award for valor in the US Military. It's equivalent to Australia's Victoria Cross.
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