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From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Rocky Versace Receives Medal of Honor

Date: January 03, 2002

"Green Beret to be honored posthumously
By Henry Cuningham Military editor

The nation&Mac226;s highest military award has been approved for a Special Forces soldier more than 36 years after he died in Viet Cong captivity.

President George W. Bush on Dec. 28 signed into law legislation that included the authority for him to award the Medal of Honor to the late Capt. Humbert R. "Rocky" Versace in Vietnam. The law sets aside time limitations.

The National Defense Authorization Act for 2002 approved the award to Versace for his actions as a prisoner of war between Oct. 29, 1963, and his death in captivity on Sept. 26, 1965.

Fort Bragg and congressional leaders requested the nation's top military honor for the 5th Special Forces Group soldier. Supporters say Versace inspired his fellow prisoners by his devotion to duty, bravery and self-sacrifice leading to his execution. Survivors describe his defiance and high spirits in the face of torture, solitary confinement, food deprivation and medical neglect.

The awarding of the Medal of Honor to Versace would bring to 20 the number of Special Forces soldiers who received the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. Fort Bragg is the headquarters for Special Forces, and the place where Green Berets are initially selected and trained.

Gallantry in action

Roger H.C. Donlon, a Special Forces soldier, was the first to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War. Donlon was cited for gallantry in action "at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" when his Special Forces camp was attacked by a Viet Cong battalion on July 6, 1964.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan presented the Medal of Honor to Roy B. Benavidez for his actions during a secret mission in Cambodia in 1968.

Two special operations soldiers, Gary I. Gordon and Randall D. Shughart, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for their actions during the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, Oct. 3-4, 1993.

On Feb. 4, 2000, Maj. Gen. William G. Boykin wrote a letter to Sen. John Warner asking for help in upgrading Versace's Silver Star, the third highest award for heroism, to the Medal of Honor.

Maj. Richard Patterson, a spokesman for Boykin, declined to comment on Thursday about the award because he had not received information through military channels.

Boykin is commander of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and former commander of U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg. Warner, a Virginia Republican, has been chairman and top ranking minority member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Unfortunately, perhaps because of the political passions of the time, the U.S. Army downgraded the Medal of Honor recommendation to an award of the Silver Star ... " Boykin wrote. "Now, some 30 years later, with political passions cooled and additional information available about Capt. Versace's heroism, I believe it is time to re-examine the case of this fine young officer."

Inspiration to others

According to the testimony of fellow captives, Versace was put into leg irons and gagged to keep his protests out of earshot of other American prisoners.

Despite severe untreated wounds, Versace tried to escape by dragging himself on his hands and knees through dense swamp, according to a proposed Medal of Honor citation.

Villagers said Versace was led around barefoot, with a rope around his neck, but he continued to smile and talk in fluent Vietnamese about God and America. The last time his fellow prisoners heard from Versace, he was singing "God Bless America" at the top of his lungs in his isolation box.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, and Sen. Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican, on March 16, 2000, wrote a letter to then-Army Secretary Louis Caldera, requesting the Medal of Honor for Versace.

ŒŒAfter months of torture and deprivation, he ultimately sacrificed his life rather than to betray his country or violate the Code of Conduct for prisoners of war, as it was defined at that time,&Mac226;&Mac226; Rohrabacher and Smith wrote.

Col. James N. "Nick&Mac226;&Mac226; Rowe" who was held captive with Versace, originally recommended him for the Medal of Honor. Rowe described Versace&Mac226;s resistance in his 1971 book "Five Years to Freedom."

Rowe and retired Sgt. Maj. Dan Pitzer, a fellow prisoner, helped establish the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training program at Fort Bragg to aid other soldiers who might find themselves in similar conditions. Rowe died in 1989 when communist assassins sprayed his vehicle with bullets while he was on his way to work in the Philippines. Pitzer died of illness in 1995.

Supporters have cited other "hard-core resisters" in the Air Force and Marine Corps who received the Medal of Honor for their actions as prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.

One such recipient was Air Force Capt. Lance P. Sijan, an F-4C pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam on Nov. 9, 1967.

While seriously injured, he evaded capture for more than six weeks and in captivity did not divulge information to his captors, even after being kept in solitary confinement and interrogated at length, according to his citation.

Another such recipient was Marine Capt. Donald G. Cook, who was captured on Dec. 31, 1964, by the Viet Cong in South Vietnam.

He "willingly and unselfishly put the interests of his comrades before that of his own well-being and eventually, his life" the citation said. "Giving more needy men his medicine and drug allowance while constantly nursing them, he risked infection from contagious diseases while in a rapidly deteriorating state of health."

Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at 486-3585 or cuninghamh@fayettevillenc.com."