On April 25, 1967, near Duc Pho, then-Spc.4 Kenneth E. Stumpf, of Company C, 1st BN, 35th Inf., 25th ID, was leading his squad toward a village when a North Vietnamese rifle company ambushed them. 3 of Stumpf’s 7 men were immediately wounded in a barrage of machine gun fire.
Stumpf and the others moved to a deep trench. The thick enemy fire made it unlikely that they could reach the wounded without adding their own names to the casualty list. “I said ‘I’m going in,’ ” Stumpf recalled. “I didn’t know where exactly they were at. I just went in … my mouth dried up, water came out of my eyes and the sound of gunfire was enormous. I was tremendously scared. But I knew they would do it for me.” Stumpf rescued all three men on three separate trips and brought them back to the trench.
Stumpf and his squad then eliminated 2 bunker positions, but one remained a threat. He ran over open ground toward the bunker and lobbed a grenade at the machine gun emplacement.
The grenade came right back at him, forcing him to take cover.
Undaunted, he pulled the pins on 2 more grenades, held them for a few seconds after activation, then hurled them into the position, this time successfully destroying the emplacement.
On Sept. 19, 1968, more than a year later after the fight, he accepted received the Medal of Honor at the White House from President Lyndon B. Johnson.
He then went back to Vietnam for two more tours and eventually retired as a Sgt.Maj. after 29 years in the Army. #zerofucks #stayzero #nofucks #zerofoxtrot #hero #badass #military #army