These Stories of Valor are part of an ongoing oral history program of the Honor Project to ensure the experiences of our combat wounded and those who gave their all in the service of America are remembered for generations to come.
SGM Truitt Breazeale served in the U.S. Army for 54 years - 32 years of active duty and 22 years teaching high-school Army JROTC. His service included tours at Forts Benning, Jackson, Riley, Bragg and Greely. He had three tours in Korea, two tours in Vietnam and a short time in Germany.
Read MoreOn May 25, 1970, Chambers unit had just been resupplied and the platoon was directed to take the perimeter around the top of the hill. Chambers was walking right point (lead) when the platoon walked into an ambush halfway up the hill.
Read MoreIn Afghanistan, in 2013, then-Capt. Taylor Walsh was exercising alone on the inside perimeter road of his coalition base, just before sunrise, when he found an insurgent trying to sneak through a gate.
Read MoreU.S. Army PFC. Richard Poles served in Company F, 407th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division "OZARKS" - He was wounded on April 11, 1945.
Read MoreU.S. Marine Corps SGT C.M. Padgett, Purple Heart Recipient - Operation Iraqi Freedom
Read MoreU.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Peter M. Gorczewski (Ret.) grew up in Woodburn, Oregon, and served five tours in Vietnam while attached to 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. During his deployments, SGM Gorczewski earned two Bronze Stars with combat Vs and seven Purple Hearts. He later was awarded the Legion of Merit.
Read MoreIn July 1969, then-Corporal Camarillo was serving as part of the 101st Airborne Division in the A Shau Valley in Vietnam when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). The blast struck Camarillo under his throat, on the right side of his chest, and damaged both his ears and eyes.
Read MoreIn April 1970, while on patrol in the Vietnam jungle, SGT Carrillo’s unit was ambushed from an enemy bunker that was previously unknown to them. During the attack, Carrillo suffered a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
Read MoreRobert Sodergren served on active duty for three years, from 1965 to 1968, including time with the 101st Airborne Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. During Operation Junction City, SSG Sodergren was on a recon patrol when he was ambushed. During the attack, Sodergren suffered a shrapnel wound to the head.
Read MoreIn 2010 he served as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. It was during that deployment, while in Logar Province with the 1-91 Cavalry, 173rd Combat Airborne Brigade, when SSG Livingston’s platoon came under enemy mortar fire.
Read MoreA twenty-three-year veteran of U.S. Army, Steven Zerger enlisted in November 1965 and served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971. In April 1971, while stationed in the A Shau Valley, Zerger was wounded during an enemy ambush.
Read MoreTroy Green enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in May 1989 and served for 27 years, 15 of those years on active duty.
Read MoreOn the night of August 11, 1969, three days after arriving at LZ Becky, SPC Little’s unit came under heavy mortar and rocket attack. During the course of the fighting, at approximately 3:00 a.m., while Little was serving as the Fire Direction Control for a three-gun, 155 mm howitzer unit in A Battery, his position was hit by a barrage of mortars and RPGs that destroyed all three guns and Control station.
Read MoreJohn Hurley enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in February 1969. On January 6, 1970, while a member of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division stationed at LZ Ross the base became overrun by North Vietnamese who were masquerading as Marines.
Read MoreOliver Hickok first enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in June of 1956 at the age of 17, eventually being stationed in Japan and then Hawaii, before finishing his time in Alabama. In December 1960, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and attended boot camp at Paris Island.
Read MoreRobert Olzweski entered the military in April 1967 and was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Infantry Division in Germany.
Read MoreMichael Gawel enlisted into the Army in December 2005 and served seven years, including a tour in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom with the 810th Engineering Company. While doing route clearance escorting Polish forces, Gawel’s patrol had already found and disposed of several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) when it struck an IED along the road.
Read MoreAlbert Walsh was commissioned into the U.S. Army in May 2003 and served for nearly eight years, including three tours in Iraq between 2005 and 2010. During his first tour while based out of Camp Taji, near Baghdad, Walsh was on a patrol when the lead High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle “Humvee” was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED).
Read MoreDuring the Second Tet Offensive, on the first of June 1968, Byers was working with the Battalion Surgeon when they received a call that one of the companies had been ambushed and was engaged in heavy fighting. The company needed extra medical support and Byers volunteered to go and begin administering medical support. Byers was tending to his third soldier when he was hit by small arms fire from the NVA. Byers continued administering aid to fellow soldiers over the course of the next four hours, before being evacuated himself that evening.
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