Peoria Medal of Honor Recipient Honored

This story popped late yesterday. It was brought to our attention by Andy Kravetz of the Journal Star; he wanted it to have the widest possible dissemination, so he came here. Andy is a friend of TAH, and the story is, well. Read on for yourself.

‘Indebted to him forever’: Peoria Medal of Honor recipient honored

By Andy Kravetz
PEORIA — The four men minced no words. If it wasn’t for the actions of Hal Fritz 50 years ago, they likely wouldn’t be here.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for what they did that day,” said Mike Mitchell, then a 20-something sergeant with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. “If he hadn’t done what he did that day, then I wouldn’t have three children and seven grandchildren. I can’t thank him enough.”

Spc. Bart “Doc” Fabian spoke of Fritz’s calm demeanor when a company of North Vietnamese soldiers ambushed their column of M113 armored personnel carriers. Fritz, then a 24-year-old first lieutenant, gathered up what was left of the fighting force and led a counterattack that bought the two dozen troopers enough time until relief arrived.

For his actions, exactly 50 years ago Friday, Fritz, 74, earned the nation’s highest military award for valor, the Medal of Honor. And to commemorate that day, a celebration was held at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, where more than 200 gathered to pay tribute to Fritz and to the men who served with him. Members of the Richwoods High School Marines JROTC unit presented the colors and escorted the four veterans into the room while the audience applauded.

“I love this guy. There is no two ways about it. I am indebted to him forever. There’s no way that I wouldn’t have been here tonight,” said Fabian, who earned the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, that day.

The appearance of his friends — Fabian, Mitchell, William Lister and Jim Colwell — was a surprise. When John Morris, the museum’s president, announced they were there and when Fritz saw them come onto the stage in the museum’s Giant Screen Theater, he was emotional. Hugs were given, words exchanged and that unbreakable bond that combat veterans often talk about was clear for all to see.

The event started at 5:11 p.m., as 11 means much to Fritz.

It was the number of his old U.S. Army unit, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, nicknamed the “Darkhorse” regiment. And it represents the date of the ambush — Jan. 11, 1969 — when the column was coming back from a mission in the Bình Long Province. Due his “extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by (Fritz), at the repeated risk of his own life,” he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor for valor under fire.

The battle

Troop A was in a seven-vehicle convoy down Highway 13, which is north of what was then Saigon. What happened next is the stuff that even John Wayne couldn’t pull off in a movie. The troopers with the 11th ACR had just left a convoy of fuel trucks and were returning to their base when they entered a gully. As they began to come out, Mitchell, who was riding with Colwell in the last APC, or “track,” remembers being “blown up into the air.”

“We took an RPG round and it hit the gas tank,” he said. “Jimmy here was caught on fire.”

The rest of the article, and the MOH citation, which is a ‘must read’ may be viewed here: Journal Star

Category: The Warrior Code, Valor