James C. McCloughan to be awarded the Medal of Honor

The White House announced today that the President will be awarding Specialist Five James C. McCloughan the Medal of Honor on July 31st for his actions at Don Que, Vietnam, from May 13 to 15, 1969.

McCloughan was serving with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, as a private first class combat medic. McCloughan, then 23 years old, voluntarily risked his life on nine separate occasions to rescue wounded and disoriented comrades. He suffered wounds from shrapnel and small arms fire on three separate occasions, but refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend wounded Americans.

After his draft period was paid off, McCloughan went on to teach for more than 40 years. According to the White House, he’s been a hero in Michigan for tons of kids;

McCloughan is a member of the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame; the Michigan High School Football Association Coaches Hall of Fame; the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; and the Olivet College Athletic Hall of Fame.

From WOODTV;

“I feel honored to be able to accept this for the 89 men that fought that battle,” McCloughan said, referencing the number of American combatants, dozens of whom were killed, wounded or went missing during the 48 hours of fighting against hundreds of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.

Then a 23-year-old private first class who was drafted a year earlier after earning a degree in sociology from Olivet College, McCloughan repeatedly entered the “kill zone” to rescue wounded comrades, despite being pelted with shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade.

“It was a real bad sting,” McCloughan told The Associated Press during an interview at his South Haven home, not far from Lake Michigan. “But at that particular time, I was tending to two guys and dragging them at the same time into a trench line.

“I looked down, and I was covered with blood,” McCloughan said of the wound that prompted a captain to suggest he leave the battlefield to receive aid.

McCloughan had different ideas.

“He knew me enough to know that I wasn’t going, and he better listen to me.”

He did.

McCloughan stuck around until the battle’s conclusion, coming to the aid of his men and fighting the enemy, at one point knocking out an enemy RPG position with a grenade. In all, the Pentagon credits McCloughan with saving the lives of 10 members of his company.

McCloughan called the battle “the worst two days of my life.”

He was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but it’s been upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

McCloughan has already earned a slew of awards, including the Combat Medical Badge, two Bronze Stars, the U. S. Army Valorous Unit Citation and the National Defense Medal. He also earned two Purple Hearts, having been shot in the arm in addition to taking the RPG shrapnel.

Category: Real Soldiers