Page 66 - History of War - Issue 25-16

HEROES OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR

“Without hesitation, Specialist Four Sabo charged
an enemy position, killing several enemy soldiers”

Oficial Medal of Honor citation

grenade bounced into view, thrown by an NVA Taking even more i re, Sabo dropped to his
soldier. Without even thinking, Sabo threw the knees. But he refused to give in and dragged
grenade away and dove on his incapacitated himself on until he was close enough to make
fellow trooper. His selless act kept the soldier one last gesture of dei ance. He drew out a
safe, but Sabo took the worst of the blast. grenade, pulled the pin and threw it with every
However, this was no time to stop and count last drop of energy inside him. The grenade
wounds, the Mother’s Day Ambush (as it would landed true and destroyed the bunker, silencing
come to be known) was still unfolding and his it for good. But Sabo was too close when it
men were dying. A nearby enemy trench was exploded, and the blast took his life as well. His
laying waste to his men, the NVA soldiers’ dug- sacrii ce gave the remainder of his platoon the
down position providing them enough protection time it needed to evacuate, saving countless
from any returning ire. Sabo threw a grenade lives. Sabo was aged just 22.
of his own into the trench, killing two of the Yet, as grand and sell ess as his acts were,
attackers inside. Sabo’s efforts on that dank Cambodian i eld
With his fellow soldiers running low on were lost to the chaos of the Vietnam War. He
ammunition, Sabo continued to put his own life was posthumously promoted to the rank of
on the line – running across the chaos of the sergeant, but the nature of his death remained
ambush, collecting ammunition from fallen GIs a mystery to his family (the US Army ofi cially
and redistributing it back to his brothers in arms. stated he had been killed by a sniper while
He would even pop himself out of cover and draw guarding an ammunition cache). Although his
enemy ire so his fellow soldiers could retreat or company commander requested he be awarded
ind better cover. In many of those instances he the Medal of Honor, the documents were lost
was hit, but the young man still fought on. and Sabo’s sacrii ce forgotten.
As night began to fall, American helicopters, That was until 1999 when another Vietnam
being ired at by NVA soldiers, were unable War veteran and columnist discovered the
to ferry the two dozen wounded left on the ofi cial report from the Mother’s Day ambush. He
battleield away. Sabo once again put himself published his discovery in a divisional newspaper
in harm’s way, providing covering ire and killing and wrote to his local congresswoman imploring
NVA soldiers in the process. What was left of her to help Sabo’s story be told and properly
Bravo Company broke through the Vietnamese recognised. It took another seven years before
lines and relieved the remaining troops, but the the Department of Defense agreed to grant him
helicopters then came under pressure from a the highly deserved Medal of Honor, and another
bunker close by. Realising that the rest of his six for it to be i nally awarded and presented by
platoon wouldn’t survive with the NVA troopers Barack Obama to his widow Rose. Despite more
keeping the choppers at bay, he advanced on the than four decades of obscurity, Leslie Sabo’s
bunker, iring shot after shot until his ammunition awe-inspiring sacrii ce could i nally be recognised
was exhausted. in the manner it deserved.

Despite the losses Sabo and his men
endured, the two platoons managed to
inl ict more casualties on the NVA by
the end of the battle

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