On March 20, 1969, Sgt. Frank D. Saracino was leading his squad from the 11 ACR during a mission to assess the damage done by a B-52 bomber strike 7 miles NW of Dau Tieng, Vietnam.
Sgt. Saracino was serving as point man when his men came upon the bunkers of a base camp occupied by an NVA Battalion. Under point blank fire, he single-handedly assaulted the first positions and destroyed them with hand grenades. He then led his troops further into the fortified area, shooting and killing scores of communists whom he spotted trying to escape. The squad continued to advance, but suddenly became pinned down by heavy machine gun and antitank rocket fire.
Exposing himself to the hail of bullets, Saracino placed suppressive fire on the enemy which enabled his comrades to withdraw and remained behind until they had all reached a more secure location. After directing 3 danger close air strikes against the enemy base camp, he again led his men forward and made another one-man assault against a bunker, killing more communist forces with hand grenades. As he was starting toward another stronghold, a heavy caliber machine gun started to fire on his men. Seeing that several of them were exposed to the deadly fusillade, he engaged the hostile position and purposely drew its fire to himself. While attempting to throw a hand grenade, he was cut down and killed by the enemy barrage.
He sacrificed his life so that his men could find enough time to get to cover.
For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Cross.
#neverforget #hero #vietnamwar #stayzero #zerofoxtrot