Sp4 Curry Haynes (middle) arrived in Vietnam on Aug. 15, 1967, as part of the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade, Company C of the 503rd Infantry. He received his first Purple Heart on December 1967, when he and his men were ambushed getting shot twice in the arm.
After surgery in Japan, he returned to the jungles of Vietnam and came down with malaria. But the 21-year-old soldier recovered and was soon back on the battle front.
And then came May 8, 1968. During a massive NVA assault on his company position, Haynes would encounter death and foe face to face, in the process he would absorb shrapnel in the chest and left arm from a B40 Rocket, a bullet in his right ankle, right thigh, left thigh, left hand, both index fingers middle fingers shot off, and grenade shrapnel in his right eye...all of which were sustained at different time frames during the Battle.
Haynes survived the onslaught and was flown by helicopter to a field hospital in An Khe, where he remained for two weeks before being flown to a military hospital in Charleston, S.C and to Fort Jackson Army Hospital for seven surgeries over the next 11 months.
During his time in Vietnam, Curry Haynes would receive a total of 10 Purple Hearts, the most ever awarded to a single man in history. "My father came to get me and they presented me with nine Purple Hearts. I don’t believe in luck, I owe it all to Jesus Christ. Every bit of it.” #hardfuck #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #war #vietnamwar #hero