Obama to honor troop for Vietnam valor

President Barack Obama is awarding the Presidential Unit Citation to an Army troop for heroism in Vietnam.

The White House has announced that 86 veterans of Troop A, 1st Squadron of the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment will attend a ceremony with the president Tuesday in the Rose Garden.

The Presidential Unit Citation goes to U.S. Armed Forces units for showing extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy.

A statement from the White House says the citation recognizes Troop A's "extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry" on March 26, 1970, when it rescued an American infantry company surrounded on the Cambodian border by an overwhelming enemy force.

The complete citation reads:

Troop A, 11th Armored Cavalry distinguished itself on 26 March 1970 by extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry against an armed enemy. After being exhausted by months of continuous combat operations, the troop volunteered to rescue Company C, 2d Battalion, 8th Cavalry, a 1st Cavalry Division unit surrounded by an overwhelming enemy force near the Cambodian border, in The Dog's Face, War Zone C, in Tay Ninh Province in the Republic of Vietnam. Company C was decisively engaged by a battalion of the 272d North Vietnamese Army Regiment which was sheltered in a large, fortified bunker complex. The determined enemy had resisted hours of aerial and artillery bombardment and was expected to destroy or capture the 100 American Infantrymen within hours. Company C's ammunition was low and declining, it was immobilized by numerous casualties, and due to a lack of landing zones, it could not be extracted or relieved. Troop A skillfully penetrated four kilometers of nearly impassible jungle terrain and unhesitatingly mounted a fierce assault directly into the heavily fortified North Vietnamese Army position. Outnumbered three to one, the troop's attack thrust it into lethal, close-range combat with tenacious defenders concealed in entrenchments under dense foliage. In the face of withering machine gun, automatic rifle, rocket-propelled grenade, and recoilless rifle fire, the troop courageously forced the enemy away from Company C and inflicted heavy casualties on the North Vietnamese Army battalion, thereby rendering it combat ineffective. At dusk, following the daring assault, the troop adroitly disengaged from the numerically superior North Vietnamese force and executed a tactically challenging night march to evacuate the dead and wounded. In spite of great sacrifice and against all odds, the unit fought with a tenacity and fervor that was truly extraordinary. Troop A, 11th Armored Cavalry's exemplary performance of duty is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects distinct credit upon the unit and the United States Army.

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On the Net:  Alpha Troop Heroes