Famous Vietnam veterans

Roy Benavidez

Army Green Beret · Medal of Honor recipient

As a soldier. A Special Forces staff sergeant. On May 2, 1968, he heard a call for help from a twelve-man team that was trapped and under heavy fire, and he flew in to help. He ran to the team under fire, helped the wounded, directed return fire and called in air support. He was badly wounded but kept going, and is credited with saving at least eight lives.

Famous for. He received the Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan on February 24, 1981, thirteen years after the action. He spent the rest of his life speaking to students about staying in school. He died on December 4, 1998.

Source: U.S. Air Force, Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez

Oliver Stone

Army infantryman · film director

As a soldier. He joined the Army in April 1967 and asked for combat duty. He served in Vietnam from September 1967 to late 1968 with the 25th Infantry Division and later the 1st Cavalry Division, was wounded twice, and received the Bronze Star with “V” device and the Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster.

Famous for. He drew on his own experience to write and direct Platoon (1986), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned him the Best Director award. He won Best Director again for Born on the Fourth of July (1989).

Source: Military.com, Oliver Stone

Roger Staubach

Navy supply officer · NFL Hall of Fame quarterback

As a soldier. After winning the 1963 Heisman Trophy at the Naval Academy, he served as a Navy supply officer. In 1966–67 he spent about six months in Da Nang and six months in Chu Lai, supporting troops on the ground.

Famous for. He joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969 at age 27 and played quarterback until 1979. He was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1971, won two Super Bowls, was named MVP of Super Bowl VI, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Source: U.S. Army, Bleier and Staubach on Vietnam

Rocky Bleier

Army infantryman · Pittsburgh Steelers running back

As a soldier. He was drafted into the Army in 1968, after playing part of his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He served in Vietnam as a grenadier with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. His company was ambushed during a mission, and he was wounded. He received the Bronze Star.

Famous for. Doctors doubted he would play again, but he worked his way back onto the Steelers and played from 1971 to 1980. He was a key part of four Super Bowl championship teams.

Source: U.S. Army, Bleier and Staubach on Vietnam

Fred Smith

Marine officer · founder of FedEx

As a soldier. A Marine officer who served two tours in Vietnam. In 1966 he was a platoon leader at Chu Lai, and later served as a forward air controller, directing air strikes. He received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

Famous for. He founded Federal Express in 1971, and it became one of the largest delivery companies in the world. He has said that lessons from Vietnam about coordinating air and ground operations and about small-unit leadership shaped how he built the company.

Source: U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam experience inspires vet to create delivery company

Norman Schwarzkopf

Army officer · Gulf War commander

As a soldier. Served two combat tours in Vietnam. He received three Silver Stars, including one for helping to rescue troops from a minefield, and a Purple Heart.

Famous for. In 1988 he took command of U.S. Central Command. He led the coalition forces in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, in which about six weeks of air attacks were followed by a ground campaign that drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in about 100 hours. He died in December 2012 at age 78.

Source: PBS NewsHour, Remembering General Norman Schwarzkopf

Tim O’Brien

Army infantry sergeant · author

As a soldier. Drafted in 1968, he served as an infantryman in Vietnam in 1969–70 and received the Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel in a grenade attack.

Famous for. He wrote some of the best-known books about the war: If I Die in a Combat Zone (1973), Going After Cacciato, which won the National Book Award in 1979, and The Things They Carried (1990), which is widely read in schools and colleges.

Source: Wikipedia, Tim O’Brien

Rick Rescorla

Army platoon leader · hero of September 11

As a soldier. Born in England, he served in the British Army and then joined the U.S. Army in 1963. He was a platoon leader in the 1st Cavalry Division and fought at the 1965 Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. His commander, Lt. Col. Hal Moore, called him the best platoon leader he ever saw. He received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart.

Famous for. He later became head of security at Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center, where he warned of danger and held evacuation drills. On September 11, 2001, he led about 2,700 employees out of the South Tower, then went back inside to help others. He was killed when the tower fell. He was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal after his death.

Source: Wikipedia, Rick Rescorla

Jan Scruggs

Army infantryman · founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

As a soldier. An infantryman with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade who was wounded in Vietnam and decorated.

Famous for. In 1979 he had the idea of a national memorial and started the effort with $2,800 of his own money. As president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, he led a drive that raised $8.4 million. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 13, 1982. He later co-wrote To Heal a Nation, and he retired from the fund in 2015.

Source: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Jan Scruggs

Ron Kovic

Marine sergeant · author and activist

As a soldier. A Marine sergeant who served two tours in Vietnam. In January 1968 he was wounded in combat and left paralyzed from the chest down.

Famous for. He wrote the memoir Born on the Fourth of July (1976) and became a leading figure in the antiwar movement. Oliver Stone turned the book into an Academy Award-winning film in 1989.

See also: Ron Kovic as an antiwar activist

Source: Britannica, Ron Kovic