And to have troops of all ethnic backgrounds training there is not an example of what America should be, he said. Covered in blood and presumed dead, he was being placed inside a body bag when he spat in a doctors face to prove he was still alive, he said at the Medal of Honor ceremony. After the battle, he was evacuated to the base camp, examined, and thought to be dead. Benavidez pulled it out, drew his own knife, killed him and kept going, leaving his knife in the NVA soldier's body. While he was an adult during the era of Vietnam War drafts, he was able to avoid the draft entirely. Bravery is hard thing for most people to really put a finger on. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in combat near Lc Ninh, South Vietnam on 2 May 1968. During the rescue attempt, the helicopter pilot was shot and the hovering aircraft crashed. Efforts to honor him by renaming Fort Hood picked up steam in 2017 after a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. At the time, U.S. House Democrats sent a letter to then-Defense Secretary James Mattis urging him to consider removing the names of Confederate commanders from the U.S. Army posts. Nestled inside the Soldier's Creed, which every member of the modern Army learns in basic training, is the Warrior Ethos: "I will . Telling stories about ordinary people involved in extraordinary events is his passion. He was a native of Benavides, Texas , and was the son of a Mexican-American farmer, Salvador Benavidez, Jr . Was Rambo based on Roy Benavidez? Free shipping for many products! The USNSBenavidez, a U.S. Navy Bob Hope-class roll on roll off vehicle cargo ship, is named in honor of MSG Benavidez. According to the official citation, on the morning of May 2, 1968, Benavidez, then a 33-year-old master sergeant, volunteered to help rescue a dozen or so soldiers wounded during a reconnaissance mission and surrounded by about a thousand North Vietnamese troops. Born: August 5, 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas, The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of the Congress the Medal of Honor to. Badly wounded, he managed to retrieve classified documents from the body of the teams leader, before being pulled up into the helicopter and flying off to safety. Thanks for watching everyone and joining yours truly in another true tale of the dark, macabre and strange. Communications, public relations, and marketing professional, and content creator during free time. Sgt. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Is the story about Benavidez true? Nominee for Best History & Biography (2015) The unforgettable account and courageous actions of the U.S. Army's 240th Assault Helicopter Company and Green Beret staff sergeant Roy Benavidez, who risked everything to rescue a Special Forces team trapped behind enemy lines Doctors at Fort Sam Houston concluded he would never walk again and began preparing his medical discharge papers. Is Rambo based off Roy Benavidez? Which is better Green Beret or Navy SEAL? Produced by the Association of the U.S. Army, "Medal of Honor: Roy Benavidez" tells the story of the Special Forces staff sergeant who became a Green Beret legend for his heroic actions in . In the novel and first film, Rambo appeared as a soldier with PTSD and had difficulty adjusting to normal life. Telegram. September 23, 2022 by bloggerboys72@gmail.com. A former TV Reporter. He set up a defense line and helped the badly wounded soldiers into the aircraft. Medal of Honor recipient, Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez fought for 6 hours straight and had 37 puncture wounds, exposed intestine, broken jaw, and eyes caked in blood. his mother and father died of . Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Five years later, his mother died from tuberculosis too. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. This real life Rambo spent 6 hours in hell and his story is beyond belief. USNS Benavidez (T-AKR-306) proudly bears the name of U.S. Army Master Sergeant Raul (Roy) Perez Benavidez, who received the Medal of Honor for a series of daring and extremely valorous actions during the Vietnam War in 1968. Enterprise writer at The Dallas Morning News. As a result, this character is not necessarily based on anyone in particular, meaning the character is totally fictionalised. How many times was Roy Benavidez MOH wounded? While Army Green Beret training is extraordinarily demanding, the overall consensus is that Navy SEAL training is the most challenging of any elite ops group in the U.S. Armed Forces. The people of Texas and the nation should know the story of Benavidez, Domingo Garcia, national president of the civil rights group, said Tuesday. The Veterans service-connected disabilities must have been caused or made worse by their active-duty service during one of these periods of time: On or after September 11, 2001, or. Some police who try to cut his hair and shave him and slashed and killed, after which Rambo flees and hides in the mountains, while becoming the focus of a manhunt. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. He is largely unknown beyond the Spanish community, he said. As of November 2020, there are discussions to rename Fort Hood as Fort Benavidez as part of an ongoing movement to rename installations and institutions originally named for Confederate generals.[14][15][16]. He'd always say: "I am not a hero. Despite this, it took him over a decade to get a Medal of Honor - and all because of bureaucratic red tape. Benavidez died in 1998 at Brooke Army Medical Center after a long illness. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed from behind by an enemy soldier. Sergeant BENAVIDEZ was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters, of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, returned to off-load wounded crew members and to assess aircraft damage. Staff writer Todd Gillman contributed to this report. What did Roy Benavidez do in the Vietnam War? Explains that roy benavidez was an american army special forces agent, a green beret trained in three of five possible specialties in the vietnam war. Roy Benavidez was a member of the US Army Special Forces who received the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in combat in South Vietnam on May 2, 1968. Prior to reaching the team's position he was wounded in his right leg, face, and head. More than a decade later, he reprised the role once again in what was seemingly his final film as the Army Special Forces vet, "Rambo: Last Blood." In terms of inspiration, David Morrell has gone . If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Could 'Fort Benavidez' take its place? He was Master Sergeant Raul Perez Roy Benevidez, aka Tango Mike Mike. Roy Benavidez. He was an actor, known for Milagro de Vietnam (1992). During his holiday O'Connor read a newspaper account of Benavidez from an El Campo newspaper, which had been picked up by the international press and reprinted in Australia. Roy Benavidez was 63 Years, 3 Months, 24 Days old. Ridler included a quote in the article saying Murphy was "alone and exposed to German fire from three sides" at one point, but his "deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. To begin with, I'm alive. Love. "He was the real American Rambo -- not a fictional character, but a real soldier who saved countless lives at a great cost to his body and person . Master Sergeant Raul Perez "Roy" Benavidez (August 5, 1935 - November 29, 1998) was a member of the United States Army Special Forces (Studies and Observations He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team's position. Benavidez shined shoes at the local bus station, labored on farms in California and Washington, and worked at a tire shop in El Campo. During the rescue attempt, the helicopter pilot was shot and the hovering aircraft crashed. Roy P. Benavidez was born in Lindenau near Cuero, Texas in DeWitt County. Did Sylvester Stallone avoid the Vietnam War? However, Morrell also intended the name to be similar to that of the author Arthur Rimbaud, who wrote a prisoner of war book A Season in Hell. O'Connor immediately contacted Benavidez and submitted a ten-page report of the encounter, confirming the accounts provided by others, and serving as the necessary eyewitness. The original, commonly quoted citation as published contained an error that essentially left out a line of text. "[5], At one point in the battle an NVA soldier accosted him and stabbed him with his bayonet. Actor: Milagro de Vietnam. They have two children, a dog, and five chickens (Napoleon, Pedro, Kip, Lafawnduh and Deb). Rambo was so iconic that he became a legend. Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Benavidez, Roy P. http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3229/benavidez-roy-p.php Retrieved 24 February 2020. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. He was assigned to Detachment B-56, 5 th Special Forces Group at Loc Ninh, an SF base along the Cambodian border. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Distributed byTribune Content Agency, LLC. ), Roy P. Benavidez-Robert M. Patterson "All Airborne" Chapter, 82nd Airborne Division Association, El Paso, Texas, Roy P. Benavidez Army Reserve Center, NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, Roy P. Benavidez Artillery Training Area 67 at, Roy P. Benavidez Elementary School in San Antonio, Texas, Roy P. Benavidez National Guard Armory in El Campo, Texas. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant BENAVIDEZ secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. On National Medal of Honor Day, today's #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Roy Perez Benavidez, a Vietnam War special forces soldier. Reagan turned to the press and said, "If the story of his heroism were a movie script, you would not believe it". Roy Benavides. But do people actually know the story of the man who inspired John Rambo? What does Lo Debar represent in the Bible? Despite these obstacles, Benavidez managed to rise above them and enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard in 1952, when he was 17. He also spoke in Greece, Panama, Korea, and Japan, where he visited American military personnel and even joined them on field exercises. : todayilearned The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Army are open to a bi-partisan discussion on the topic, Lt. Col. Emanuel L. Ortiz, an Army spokesman, said Monday. When Morrell heard the name, he says he was inspired by the sound of force in the name Rambo and used it for his character. On April 30, 1975, NVA tanks rolled through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, effectively ending the war. During the six hours of continuous operations, Benavidez suffered a broken jaw and 37 bullet and bayonet puncture wounds. On February 24, 1981, after finding a living eyewitness, President Ronald Reagan upgraded his DSC to a Medal of Honor. Who doesnt know Sylvester Stallones box-office hit, Rambo? As Benavidez noted in his MOH acceptance speech in 1981, stung by the diagnosis, as well as flag burnings and media criticism of the US military presence in Vietnam he saw on TV, he began an unsanctioned nightly training ritual in an attempt to redevelop his ability to walk.[4]. Roy Benavidez is an authentic Texas hero, who fought with valor but has yet to be recognized by Texas and the country for his contributions.. M/Sgt. O'Connor had been severely wounded (Benavidez had believed him dead), and he was evacuated to the United States before his superiors could fully debrief him. Ridler quoted Morrell in his article as once saying, "The only time I'd heard about Vietnam was three years earlier in a 1963 'Route 66' episode." He went to Capitol Hill and pleaded with the House Select Committee on Aging to abandon their plans, which they finally did. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Among the names Mosley suggested for Army posts include Medgar Evers, an Army sergeant in World War II better known as a black civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1963. Covered in blood and presumed dead, he was being placed inside a body bag when he spat in a doctors face to prove he was still alive,he saidat the Medal of Honor ceremony. Everyone and joining yours truly in another true tale of the Presidential in. And bayonet puncture wounds 3 Months, 24 Days old the Medal of Honor site we will assume that are... But do people actually know the story of the man who inspired John Rambo the best experience on website. Chickens ( Napoleon, Pedro, Kip, Lafawnduh and Deb ) http: //www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3229/benavidez-roy-p.php Retrieved 24 February.. North Vietnamese Army with, I & # x27 ; m alive is! Months is rambo based on roy benavidez 24 Days old to get a Medal of Honor content creator free... 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