Donald Paul Sloat (February 6, 1949 – January 17, 1970) was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
soldier and a posthumous recipient of the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
, the military's highest decoration for his actions in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.
Early life
Donald Sloat was born to Ezra Paul Sloat and his wife, Beatrice Evelyn Turnbow, in Coweta, Oklahoma, where he lived most of his life. He graduated from Coweta High School in 1967. He then attended
Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in
Miami, Oklahoma
Miami ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom.
This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capit ...
.
Military career
He enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 19, 1969. After finishing basic training at
Fort Polk,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, he shipped out to
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
in September, 1969. By then, he was a machine gunner in the 3rd Platoon, Company D, 2nd Battalion,
1st Infantry Regiment,
196th Light Infantry Brigade,
23rd Infantry Division (Americal Division).
Awards and decorations
Sloat earned the following awards and decorations:
[
From 2002, the U.S. Army reviewed all 6,500 recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross to see if any recipients had been short-changed; this led to two dozen medal upgrades in March 2014.] In 2013, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (; NDAA 2014Pub.L 113-66 is a United States federal law which specifies the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense (DOD) for Fiscal Year 2014. The law auth ...
, the Senate Armed Service Committee passed a provision removing the time limit for Donald P. Sloat and Bennie G. Adkins. On September 15, 2014, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Adkins as an upgrade of his 1967 Distinguished Service Cross. During that ceremony, the Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously to Sloat and American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
army officer Alonzo Cushing. President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
presented the medal to Donald's brother, Bill Sloat (now deceased), in a ceremony at the East Room of the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Specialist Four, United States Army, 3rd Platoon, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division.
Place and date: Que Son Valley
QUE or que may refer to:
* Quebec (Que.), as the traditional abbreviation, though the postal abbreviations are now QC and previously PQ
* Que Publishing, a company which first began as a publisher of technical computer software and hardware suppo ...
, Quảng Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...
, January 17, 1970
Entered service at: Coweta, Oklahoma
Coweta is a city in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States, a suburb of Tulsa. As of 2010, its population was 9,943. Part of the Muscogee (Creek), Creek Nation in Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a U.S. state, the town was first settled ...
;Citation
Decorations donated to Coweta
February 6, 2017, was declared as Specialist Donald P. Sloat Medal of Honor Day in Coweta. The remainder of Sloat's family had decided to donate the Medal of Honor, along with many other military decorations, to Robert Morton, mayor of the city of Coweta, for display. The medals will be permanently displayed at Coweta City Hall.Wheeland, Christy. "Sloat family presents Medal of Honor to the City of Coweta." ''Tulsa World''. February 6, 2017.
Accessed February 3, 2018.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloat, Donald P.
1949 births
1970 deaths
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
American recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)
United States Army soldiers
Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor
People from Coweta, Oklahoma
Deaths by hand grenade
United States Army personnel killed in the Vietnam War