After William Pitsenbarger helped rescue as many as 60 soldiers during one particularly fierce battle, he stayed on the ground and helped them fight.
On September 22 , 1966 , William Pitsenbarger Sr . and his wife visited the Pentagon where their son was to be honored with the Air Force Cross , the second - in high spirits prize for that service .
But the observance was marked by loss as their 21 - yr - sometime son , William Pitsenbarger Jr. , was kill in legal action some six months earlier . At least nine men survive because of Pitsenbarger ’s forfeiture and his narration has since been memorialise in the motion ikon , The Last Full amount .
William Pitsenbarger’s Early Life
William Hart Pitsenbarger as a boy was determined to become an elite warrior .
carry on July 8 , 1944 , in Piqua , Ohio , “ pit ” as he was sleep together to his friends , plead with his parent to let him resign high-pitched school and enlist in the U.S. Army ’s Green Berets . They forbade it , but after graduate in 1962 he enlisted in the Air Force .
After he finished his basic preparation , Pitsenbarger volunteered for pararescue service . This entail receiving jumping training , scuba lessons , classes in tropical survival of the fittest , and grooming in emergency aesculapian care .
United States Air ForceA1C William Pitsenbarger prepares for a water jump.
United States Air ForceA1C William Pitsenbarger groom for a water leap .
With this training complete , William Pitsenbarger fall in an elect group of unpaid worker pararescue jumpers . These soldier took part in some of the most serious military duty assignment in the service .
PJ ’s , as they are commonly called , are lowered into alive scrap zones by helicopter to assist in the evacuation and discussion of injuries . They are part medic and part commando .
National ArchivesWilliam Pitsenbarger is lowered onto the roadway following the extraction of the Vietnamese soldier from a burning minefield at Bien-Hoa Air Base.
These things we do so that others may live .
In theVietnam War , PJs realize more decoration per caput than any other divine service .
Pits was deployed to Vietnam in 1965 .
U.S. Air ForceA1C William Pitsenbarger has been posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor.
William Pitsenbarger’s “Complete Disregard For His Own Safety.”
In his relatively little career as a PJ , Pitsenbargertook part in about 300 rescue missionary station .
One of his most notable was on March 7 , 1966 , when the 21 - year - former derive into a burn minefield to rescue a wounded South Vietnamese soldier who had lost a infantry . Airman First Class , or A1C , Pitsreportedly say : “ No problem , just low me down on the penetrator , I ’ll range the guy cable , pick him up , and then you’re able to lift me up . ”
Though his matter - of - factness may not have discover as much , this was a speculative move . The helicopter props could coiffe off the mines eat up below .
Pitsenbarger nonetheless pull the rescue off and later , was awarded the Airman ’s Medal and Vietnam ’s Medal of Military Merit and the Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm for his gallantry .
The citation noted that William Pitsenbarger had a “ complete disregard for his own safety . ” He was recommended for four more palm .
National ArchivesWilliam Pitsenbarger is lowered onto the roadway following the origin of the Vietnamese soldier from a burn up minefield at Bien - Hoa Air Base .
But this act would pale in comparison to the face Pitsenbarger showed a month after .
On April 11 , 134 soldiers of Charlie Company , 2nd Battalion , 16th Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division , were beleaguer by some 400 Vietcong troop in the hobo camp about 35 east of Saigon near Cam My .
Sniper bullets were follow by mortar and machine - gas fire as the wound and the dead piled up . There was no way that medivacs could get to the American troops because of the slow forest , but Pitsenbarger would try .
The Final Rescue Mission
“ I could n’t believe that anybody was brave enough or crazy enough to come down on the ground with all this firing going on … Even though there was 700 guns firing at the same time , it was to him like nothing was become on , like nothing could hurt him . He total there to save life and that ’s what he was doing . He must have lay aside 40 , 50 , 60 guys who are living today . ”
The cry for aid went to the PJs and the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron mobilise two eggbeater to assist the besieged man .
Pitsenbarger was in a Husky HH-43 helicopter . The aircraft lour hoists to the troop below to load the injure for voiding . But the foe fire was so fierce that this method test to be useless . alternatively , Pitsenbarger reportedly tell to his pilot , “ I ’m go away in . ”
With a attack jacket and a .38 quality handgun , Pits descended the 100 feet to the jungle below and began to organise the voiding efforts .
His efforts greatly expedited empty the wound and lessened the clock time that the helicopter needed to vacillate in a vulnerable placement . He successfully evacuated nine wounded soldiers .
The standard procedure was to empty the wounded and then pull out , but William Pitsenbarger had no such aim . Each time the helicopter were ready to vary with a load of the offend , pit waved them off , resist his own deliverance in favor of gather more wounded .
Eventually , the fighting on the terra firma became so intense and the chopper so damaged that they could not return . The Vietcong then launched their final violation .
pit , all this clock time , had provided economic aid to the soldiers at the risk of his own exposure . He crafted stretchers and splint from vines and outgrowth . He used up his total supply of morphine . He gather weapons and ammunition , passing it to the bruise .
He even gave his own revolver to a wounded soldier who could not hold a rifle . He then deal part in the desperate fighting himself .
The Ultimate Sacrifice
One military officer recalledof the fighting : “ To put down on paper what this struggle was like is an impossible task . All a person could do was get as close to the undercoat as potential and beg … I am certain the death count would have been much gamy had it not been for the heroic efforts of Airman Pitsenbarger . ”
While estimation of how many men Pits actually lay aside deviate widely , he is usually credit with save at least nine .
U.S. Air ForceA1C William Pitsenbarger has been posthumously grant a Medal of Honor .
During his heroic verse , William Pitsenbarger was shoot three time . And in the assault by the Viet Cong that come after , the Americans suffered an 80 pct casualty rate .
Pits was drink down by AK-47 fire at about 7:30 post-mortem that evening . When his eubstance was recover , he had taken four or five bullet wounds . He was holding his medical kit in one manus and a rifle in the other .
Legacy And Movie
pit ’ valiance is certainly the stuff of legends , and it ’s all the more awe - inspiring since it was real . His fellows and officers recommend him for the Medal of Honor . However , the Air Force brass downgraded this to the Air Force Cross for undetermined reasons .
Even though he was the first airman to receive the Air Force Cross , it seemed to not be worthy enough for the soldier . So on Dec. 8 , 2000 , his Air Force Cross was upgrade to the Medal of Honor and he was also kick upstairs to staff police sergeant .
The citation , in part , reads :
“ Airman Pitsenbarger exposed himself to almost certain death by stick around on the ground and perished while saving the life story of wounded footslogger . His bravery and determination illustrate the gamey professional standards and traditions of military armed service and reverberate great credit upon himself , his unit , and the United States Air Force . ”
He was the second U.S. Air Force enlisted valet to receive the Medal of Honor . Pitsenbarger ’s bequest will be immortalized in a photographic film of his heroic . The film , the Last Full Measure , stars Sebastian Stan , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Plummer , Ed Harris , and William Hurt . Pits will be play by Jeremy Irvine .
The film wink between William Pitsenbarger ’s heroics and the efforts of a Pentagon staffer ( play by Stan ) tenner later to posthumously present him the decoration .
In the unconscious process , the staff member uncovers a conspiracy that deny him the medal — something that did n’t pass in real life — but surely create for good field . Not even a picture could craft the variety of courage Pitsenbarger displayed that day in April 1966 , though .
After this look at the unbelievable valiance of William Pitsenbarger , read up on thetunnel ratsof the Vietnam War , men who braved the enemy underground . Then , pick up aboutfragging , when soldiers in Vietnam chose to blow up their superior as counterbalance to scrap .
