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Vietnam War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Al Rascon
VIETNAM VET BESTOWED BELATED MEDAL OF HONOR RECOGNITION
CAMP CASEY, Republic of Korea (USFK) -- A former member of 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, which is now a part of the 2nd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade, was awarded the Medal of Honor Feb. 8, in a ceremony at the White House.
Alfred Rascon, who served with 1-503rd while it was a part of 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate), was presented the highest military honor by President Bill Clinton for his heroism during the Vietnam War 34 years ago.
The 1-503rd was redesignated as part of the 2ID December 19, 1986, as a result of the Army regimental system.
When he was a 20-year-old specialist assigned as a medic in a reconnaissance platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-503rd Inf., Rascon suffered shrapnel injuries protecting fellow soldiers bodies with his own on March 16, 1966, according to his award citation.
"On that distant day, in that far away place, this man gave everything he had, utterly and selflessly, to protect his platoon mates and the nation he was still not yet a citizen of," Clinton said.
His platoon had drawn intense enemy fire, and Rascon risked his life to save other soldiers. He repeatedly put himself in the line of fire to protect wounded platoon mates, sheltering them from grenade blasts, shrapnel and machine gun fire. Although he was wounded himself, he managed to crawl across the field and retrieve extra ammunition for a machine-gunner, which his citation said helped his platoon win the battle. When the enemy fire subsided, he would not give up his duty as medic, directing the evacuation of critically wounded soldiers treating their wounds. Finally, assured that the soldiers were receiving the help needed, he allowed his own wounds to be treated.
"I did it because I had to, and that's all there is to it. The honor is not really mine," Rascon said. "It ends up being those who were with me that day."
Congressman Jim Moran's News Commentary
Under heavy enemy fire, Mexican-born United States Army Medic Al Rascon threw himself onto his fellow soldiers, covering them from a grenade attack and saving their lives.
For his bravery during the 1966 skirmish in Vietnam's Long Khanh province, Rascon - who became a naturalized citizen in 1967 - received the Silver Star and in 2000, a trip to the White House to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor , our nation's highest military honor. Rascon was recommended for the Medal of Honor after the incident, but because of bureaucratic red tape it took 34 years - and a great deal of lobbying by the men he saved - for him to receive the award. Al Rascon was just one fine example of the courage Latino Americans have exhibited in the heat of the battle. In World War II, 500,000 Latinos served with eleven of them receiving the Medal of Honor. The Korean Conflict was no different as eight Latinos were given the nation's highest award. The Vietnam War saw perhaps the greatest collective exhibition of bravery with 14 Latinos awarded the Medal of Honor .
Gallantry is a characteristic trait of so many Latino Americans who have volunteered to serve in the military and put themselves in harm's way for their country. Ever since the Revolutionary War , Latinos have battled for Americans' freedom and they continue to fight in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, far removed from their families in the United States. Right now, there are 110,000 Latino American men and women on active duty representing about 9.5 percent of all active duty personnel. Latinos represent 9.7 percent of the Army; 10.5 percent of the Navy; 13.9 percent of the Marine Corps; and 3.4 percent of the Air Force. And 1.1 million Latino veterans are alive today, continuing to remind us of their contributions to our country.
One step the Congress has taken to recognize the contributions of our Latino soldiers, sailors, and Marines is passing legislation that grants U.S. citizenship to the 37,000 non-citizens now in the armed forces. These "immigrant soldiers" should be citizens of the country they are fighting and possibly dying for.
Unfortunately, the respect given to Latinos for their efforts on the battlefield is often not given to them here on the home front in their daily lives.
There are 210,000 Latinos who live in Northern Virginia representing 11 percent of a very fast growing population. Nationally, 35 million Latinos live in this country and make up a larger portion of the population than any other minority group.
Despite this population increase - and with it the potential to push for change - we still see Latinos discriminated against despite the fact that their time, talents, and energy contribute to the extraordinary prosperity our country has seen over the last century.
Instead of closing our borders to law-abiding immigrants, we should welcome them and work toward making new Americans part of our culture, our democracy, and our economy. Denying drivers' licenses to undocumented workers only shuts them out of a system in which we should be encouraging them to participate. Same goes with denying hard-working college-bound students in-state tuition rates simply because they are not yet citizens.
Our country was founded by immigrants who believed that this was a land of opportunity where a person's talents would outweigh nobility. That principle belief should still hold true today. For our country to reach its full potential we must open our arms to all new Americans, embrace their diversity, and encourage them to participate in our economy and became a part of our great democracy.
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