Posted on 12/21/2001 6:30:52 AM PST by Jeff Head
There is a REAL American Hero, Captain Rocky Versace, who deserves a Medal of Honor. His actions while fighting the Viet Cong in Vietnam and then after his capture are the stuff that heroes, role models and legends are made of.
A number of us on FR, along with a great number of his compatriots in the Armed Services, have been pushing, lobbying and seeking for years that this man be presented the MOH he so richly deserves. Here is an earlier thread from early 2000 regarding the same:
Rocky Versace, A Real American Hero who deserves a Medal of Honor
I just spoke this morning a short while ago to Duane E. Frederic who wrote the:
MEDAL OF HONOR RECOMENDATION STAFF STUDY FOR ROCKY
and I am PROUD to say that a citiation has been recommended and approved and that the legislation enabling the MOH for Rocky has just passed the House and Senate and is in the Defense Appropriation legislation going to the Presidents desk for signature!
Barring a veto (and we should all write the President specifically over this issue to urge him to sign the legislation) there should be a ceremony this spring for ROcky, 39 years after the fact.
Here is the CITATION wording:
Here are important links regarding Rocky:The President of the United States of America in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while a prisoner of war during the period of 29 October 1963 to 26 September 1965 in the Republic of Vietnam.CAPTAIN HUMBERT ROQUE VERSACE
UNITED STATES ARMYCITATION:
While accompanying a Civilian Irregular Defense Group patrol engaged in combat operations in Thoi Binh District, An Xuyen Province, Republic of Vietnam on 29 October 1963, Captain Versace and the CIDG assault force were caught in an ambush from intense mortar, automatic weapons, and small arms fire from elements of a reinforced enemy Main Force battalion. As the battle raged, Captain Versace fought valiantly and encouraged his CIDG patrol to return fire against overwhelming enemy forces. He provided covering fire from an exposed position to enable friendly forces to withdraw from the killing zone when it was apparent that their position would be overrun, and was severely wounded in the knee and back from automatic weapons fire and shrapnel. He stubbornly resisted capture with the last full measure of his strength and ammunition.
Taken prisoner by the Viet Cong, he demonstrated exceptional leadership and resolute adherence to the tenants of the Code of Conduct from the time he entered into a prisoner of war status. Captain Versace assumed command of his fellow American prisoners, and despite being kept locked in irons in an isolation box, raised their morale by singing messages to popular songs of the day, and leaving inspiring messages at the latrine. Within three weeks of captivity, and despite the severity of his untreated wounds, he attempted the first of four escape attempts by dragging himself on his hands and knees out of the camp through dense swamp and forbidding vegetation to freedom. Crawling at a very slow pace due to his weakened condition, the guards quickly discovered him outside the camp and recaptured him. Captain Versace scorned the enemy’s exhaustive interrogation and indoctrination efforts, and inspired his fellow prisoners to resist to the best of their ability.
When he used his Vietnamese language skills to protest improper treatment of the American prisoners by the guards, he was put into leg irons and gagged to keep his protestations out of earshot of the other American prisoners in the camp. The last time that any of his fellow prisoners heard from him, Captain Versace was singing God Bless America at the top of his voice from his isolation box. Unable to break his indomitable will, his faith in God, and his trust in the United States of America and his fellow prisoners, Captain Versace was executed by the Viet Cong on 26 September 1965.
Captain Versace’s extraordinary heroism, self-sacrifice, and personal bravery involving conspicuous risk of life above and beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army, and reflect great credit to himself and the U.S. Armed Forces.
A SOLDIERS STORY - A FILM ABOUT ROCKY [20 Minute online, Requires RealPlayer]
MEDAL OF HONOR RECOMMENDATION STAFF STUDY
ALEXANDRIA VIETNAM MEMORIAL AND CAPTAIN ROCKY VERSACE PLAZA
As sneakypete (himself having served couragously and valiantly in that same conflict) said on the earlier thread:
He was not only true to his country,but he was also true to his own beliefs and to himself. Honor,respect,and LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE were concepts he well understood,and a burden he gladly shouldered. He knew this would cost him his life,but he understood that the survival of these concepts were more important than even his own personal survival.
Honor demands that we get his heorism recogonized so that the young soldiers following in his footsteps today have a role model to follow who understood the true meaning of the words,"Duty,Honor,Country".
So, please help us finally accomplish something that should have been rendered long ago ... in memory of Rocky, in memory of Colonel James Rowe who was captured with Rocky and who remained true to Rocky up until the time of his death at the hands of communist assasines in the Phillipines in 1989 who said the following of his friend Rocky:
For that guy, duty, honor, country was a way of life. He was the finest example of an officer I have known. To him it was a matter of liberty or death, the big four and nothing more. There was no other way for him. Once, Rocky told our captors that as long as he was true to God and true to himself, what was waiting for him after this life was far better than anything that could happen now. So he told them that they might as well kill him then and there if the price of his life was getting more from him than name, rank, and serial number. I’m satisfied that he would have it no other way. I know that he valued that one moment of honor more than he would have a lifetime of compromises."
... and in memory of Rocky's family, particularly his mother who passed on before this could occur. May they all rejoice together on the other side of Jordan.
Give me Liberty or Give me Death
Dragon's Fury - Breath of Fire - A Story of the coming Third World War.
Please let others know and write the White House on behalf of Rocky.
JH2, your mega-bump would certainly help.
This is well deserved and people have expended tremendous energy for a long sustained effort of 3 1/2 decades to see it happen.
I revere Col. James Rowe, may he rest in peace.
If you get a chance, read the Staff Study. Here's a link:
MOH RECOMMENDATION: STAFF STUDY
Or click on the link above to the streamed video of the film. It will be worth your while.
God grant that we always have such couragous and stalwart defenders of liberty!
I will be contacting my Senators and the President to push for this.
BTTT
This well deserved and long worked for. My hat is off to those who spent the years ... the decades dedicated to making this happen. God bless them each and everyone.
So instead of just Bumping this thread, take the time to write to President Bush.
The Senate has already done its job ... but lets not let them forget just the same.
The President is the ony one left now. If he signs the Defense Appropriation Legislation currently on his desk ... according to Duane Frederic, it WILL happen.
Please write the President.
God bless you and yours and Merry Christmas. I just wish Col. Rowe and Rocky's mom and dad were still alive ... but I have a feeling they all know and are rejoicing at the recognition, so well deserved, of honor, duty, valor and courage ... an example so sorely needed in our time. Rocky and his story (and really the story of James Rowe's experiences and dedication too) fit that bill.
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