On September 17, 1969, SSgt. Melvin Morris was serving as Commander of a Strike Force drawn from Company D, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Chi Lang, Vietnam.
On that afternoon, SSgt. Morris’ affiliated companies encountered an extensive enemy mine field and were subsequently engaged by a hostile force. Learning by radio that a fellow team commander had been killed near an enemy bunker, he immediately reorganized his men to go and recover the team commander’s body. On approach, the hostile force concentrated its fire on SSgt. Morris’ three-man element the enemy wounded both men accompanying him. After assisting the two wounded men back to his forces’ lines, SSgt. Morris charged forward into withering enemy fire.
While enemy machine gun emplacements continuously directed strafing fusillades against him, SSgt. Morris destroyed the positions with hand grenades and continued his assault, ultimately eliminating four bunkers. Upon reaching the bunker nearest the fallen team commander, Staff Sergeant Morris repulsed the enemy, retrieved his comrade and began the arduous trek back to friendly lines. In doing so, he was wounded three separate times, but despite the wounds, he ultimately succeeded in returning his fallen comrade to a friendly position.
For his actions, he was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but later upgraded to the MOH in 2014. #hero