Remarks on Presenting the Medal of Honor to Three Members of the United States Army.

Mr. Secretary, General Westmoreland, all of our distinguished guests on this occasion:

I have been honored many times since assuming the Office of the Presidency of the United States, but I can say from my heart that today is the highest honor--the highest honor because I have for the first time the privilege of representing the United States of America in presenting the Congressional Medal of Honor to three of our fine young men who have fought for the cause of freedom and the cause of peace in Vietnam.

The citations will be read by the Secretary of the Army, and they will tell us better than any words I could utter what these men have done beyond the call of duty.

I would like to add just a personal word, a word that I think all of the American people would join me in. We really cannot honor these men, but they have honored America. They have added to the honor of the Nation by what they have done.

They share several things in common: They are men who risked their lives for their fellow man. They are men who faced death and instead of losing their courage they gave courage to the men around them. And, finally, they are young men.

The oldest man is 30; Sergeant Hooper is 30. Sergeant Zabitosky is 26, and Specialist Sasser is 21.

That leads me to give you a conclusion that I reached after studying all of the Congressional Medal of Honor winners in this war. Their average age is 27, which brings home a thought that we must always remember: When we think of America's younger generation, we sometimes have a tendency to emphasize what is wrong with them, and sometimes young people do get into trouble; sometimes they do not follow the patterns that older people think they ought to follow.

But in the magnificent records of these three young men, they have demonstrated to us that we can be very proud of our younger generation. They are magnificent men, magnificent in their idealism. Idealism is often shown by words, but they have demonstrated their idealism by their deeds.

And because they have made us proud of being Americans and also reminded us that we should be proud of our younger generation, the youth of America, I am honored to be here with them.

Now, Mr. Secretary, if you would read the citations.

[Secretary of the Army Stanley R. Resor read the citations, the texts of which follow.]

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

STAFF SERGEANT JOE R. HOOPER UNITED STATES ARMY

for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Staff Sergeant (then Sergeant) Joe R. Hooper, United States Army, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity on 21 February 1968, while serving as squad leader with Company D, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, near Hue, Republic of Vietnam. Company D was assaulting a heavily defended enemy position along a river bank when it encountered a withering hail of fire from rockets, machine guns and automatic weapons. Staff Sergeant Hooper rallied several men and stormed across the river, overrunning several bunkers on the opposite shore. Thus inspired, the rest of the company moved to the attack. With utter disregard for his own safety, he moved out under the intense fire again and pulled back the wounded, moving them to safety. During this act Staff Sergeant Hooper was seriously wounded, but he refused medical aid and returned to his men. With the relentless enemy fire disrupting the attack, he single-handedly stormed three enemy bunkers, destroying them with hand grenades and rifle fire, and shot two enemy soldiers who had attacked and wounded the chaplain. Leading his men forward in a sweep of the area, Staff Sergeant Hooper destroyed three buildings housing enemy riflemen. At this point he was attacked by a North Vietnamese officer whom he fatally wounded with his bayonet. Finding his men under heavy fire from a house to the front, he proceeded alone to the building, killing its occupants with rifle fire and grenades. By now his initial body wound had been compounded by grenade fragments, yet despite the multiple wounds and loss of blood, he continued to lead his men against the intense enemy fire. As his squad reached the final line of enemy resistance, it received devastating fire from four bunkers in line on its left flank. Staff Sergeant Hooper gathered several hand grenades and raced down a small trench which ran the length of the bunker line, tossing grenades into each bunker as he passed by, killing all but two of the occupants. With these positions destroyed, he concentrated on the last bunkers facing his men, destroying the first with an incendiary grenade and neutralizing two more by rifle fire. He then raced across an open field, still under enemy fire, to rescue a wounded man who was trapped in a trench. Upon reaching the man, he was faced by an armed enemy soldier whom he killed with a pistol. Moving his comrade to safety and returning to his men, he neutralized the final pocket of enemy resistance by fatally wounding three North Vietnamese officers with rifle fire. Staff Sergeant Hooper then established a final line and reorganized his men, not accepting treatment until this was accomplished and not consenting to evacuation until the following morning. His supreme valor, inspiring leadership and heroic self-sacrifice were directly responsible for the company's success and provided a lasting example in personal courage for every man on the field. Staff Sergeant Hooper's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

RICHARD NIXON

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

SERGEANT FIRST CLASS FRED W. ZABITOSKY UNITED STATES ARMY

for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Sergeant First Class (then Staff Sergeant) Fred W. Zabitosky, United States Army, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty in the Republic of Vietnam, on 19 February 1968, while serving as an assistant team leader of a nine-man Special Forces long range reconnaissance patrol. Sergeant Zabitosky's patrol was operating deep within enemy controlled territory when they were attacked by a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army unit. Sergeant Zabitosky rallied his team members, deployed them into defensive positions, and, exposing himself to concentrated enemy automatic weapons fire, directed their return fire. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sergeant Zabitosky ordered his patrol to move to a landing zone for helicopter extraction while he covered their withdrawal with rifle fire and grenades. Rejoining the patrol under increasing enemy pressure, he positioned each man in a tight perimeter defense and continually moved from man to man, encouraging them and controlling their defensive fire. Mainly due to his example, the outnumbered patrol maintained its precarious position until the arrival of tactical air support and a helicopter extraction team. As the rescue helicopters arrived, the determined North Vietnamese pressed their attack. Sergeant Zabitosky repeatedly exposed himself to their fire to adjust suppressive helicopter gunship fire around the landing zone. After boarding one of the rescue helicopters, he positioned himself in the door delivering fire on the enemy as the ship took off. The helicopter was engulfed in a hail of bullets and Sergeant Zabitosky was thrown from the craft as it spun out of control and crashed. Recovering consciousness, he ignored his extremely painful injuries and moved to the flaming wreckage. Heedless of the danger of exploding ordnance and fuel, he pulled the severely wounded pilot from the searing blaze and made repeated attempts to rescue his patrol members, but was driven back by the intense heat. Despite his own serious burns and crushed ribs, he carried and dragged the unconscious pilot through a curtain of enemy fire to within ten feet of a hovering rescue helicopter before collapsing. Sergeant Zabitosky's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.

RICHARD NIXON

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

SPECIALIST FIVE CLARENCE E. SASSER UNITED STATES ARMY

for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Specialist Five Clarence E. Sasser (then Private First Class) distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity on 10 January 1968 while assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date he was serving as a medical aidman with Company A, 3d Battalion, on a reconnaissance in force operation in Ding Tuong Province. His company was making an air assault when suddenly it was taken under heavy small arms, recoilless rifle, machine gun and rocket fire from well fortified enemy positions on three sides of the landing zone. During the first few minutes, over thirty casualties were sustained. Without hesitation, Specialist Sasser ran across an open rice paddy through a hail of fire to assist the wounded. After helping one man to safety, he was painfully wounded in the left shoulder by fragments of an exploding rocket. Refusing medical attention, he ran through a barrage of rocket and automatic weapons fire to aid casualties of the initial attack and, after giving them urgently needed treatment, continued to search for other wounded. Despite two additional wounds immobilizing his legs, he dragged himself through the mud toward another soldier one hundred meters away. Although in agonizing pain and faint from loss of blood, Specialist Sasser reached the man, treated him, and proceeded on to encourage another group of soldiers to crawl two hundred meters to relative safety. There he attended their wounds for five hours until they were evacuated. Specialist Sasser's conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.

RICHARD NIXON

[Following the reading of the citations the President resumed speaking.]

That concludes the ceremony. We thank you all very much for coming and we are honored that you could be here to participate in this very historic ceremony.

Thank you.