The man pictured here is Spc4. Santiago J. Erevia. Born in Nordheim, Texas in 1946, he volunteered to join the Army at the height of the Vietnam War at the age of 22; and his decision only became reinforced when one of his friends returned home horribly wounded.
"He was missing both ears, and lips and nose and part of his leg," says Erevia. "And so I said, well, poor kid, maybe I can do something to help him out."
Erevia's way of helping out was to continue his plans to enlist and fight, with a sense of fatalism.
"I had already made up my mind that I was going to sign up — what's meant to be is meant to be," he says.
On May 21, 1969, Erevia and the men of C.co 1/501st, 101st AB were tasked out on a search and clear mission near Tam Ky.
While making their way through the jungle, NVA troops rose from the earth: from bunkers, from spider holes, from trenches.
"We were in amongst them. We were fighting at 5 and 10 feet."
During the intense fight, Spc4 Erevia came under intense hostile fire from four bunkers to his left front. Although he could have taken cover with the rest of the element, he chose a retaliatory course of action. Armed with grenades and two M-16s, he charged toward the enemy positions.
Under very intense fire, he continued to advance on the enemy until he was near the first bunker. He pulled the pin from a hand grenade and silenced the position. Without hesitation, he proceeded to eliminate the next two bunkers in the same fashion. Still under intense fire from the fourth position, he courageously charged forward behind the fire emitted by his M-16 rifles. Arriving at the very edge of the bunker, he silenced the occupant within the fortification at point blank range.
"One of the NVA soldiers stood up — I was about maybe 2 or 3 feet away from him," says Erevia. "I shot him point-blank with my M-16. End of story."
For his heroic actions, he was initally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, only to have it upgraded to the MOH in 2014. #zerofucks #nofucks #stayzero #america #hero #airborne #patriot