Roger Hugh Charles Donlon (January 30, 1934 – January 25, 2024) 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 ...

officer. He was the first person to receive 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 ...

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 ...

, as well as the first member of the

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, is a branch of the United States Army United States Army Special Operations Comm ...

to be so honored.

Early life and education

Donlon was born in

Saugerties, New York Saugerties () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern corner of Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York. The population was 19,038 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, the eighth child of ten. He attended the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University for a year. He joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in 1953 and was admitted to

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1955, but resigned for personal reasons. He re-enlisted, this time in the United States Army, in 1958, went to

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

, and served as a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

's aide. In August 1963 he joined the

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

in 1967.

Career

In May 1964, Donlon's team was sent to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

where they established an outpost at Nam Dong, about from the border with

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. Early in the morning of July 6, 1964, the base was attacked by a large force of

Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...

. Under

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Donlon's leadership, the two-

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

attack was repelled. Donlon received the

for his actions. Donlon later retired at the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. Donlon was awarded the key to the city of Lexington, Kentucky, by Mayor Fred Fugazzi on June 28, 1965. In 1965, Donlon received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

Later life and death

Donlon wrote two books about his experiences in the Vietnam War: ''Outpost of Freedom'' and ''Beyond Nam Dong''. He lived in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

with his wife, Norma, and children. Roger Donlon died in Leavenworth, Kansas on January 25, 2024, five days before his 90th birthday.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army. Place and date: Near Nam Dong, Republic of Vietnam, July 6, 1964. Entered service at:

Fort Chaffee Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center, also known as Fort Chaffee, is an Arkansas Army National Guard Military base, installation located in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Fort Smith. Established as Camp C ...

, Arkansas. Born: January 30, 1934, Saugerties, New York. General Orders No. 41: December 17, 1964. Somchita Donlon Kraiwal 1987

Citation:

Awards and decorations

Donlon's military awards include: Unit Awards Foreign decorations and awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donlon, Roger 1934 births 2024 deaths People from Saugerties, New York State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni Members of the United States Army Special Forces United States Army colonels United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the National Order of Vietnam American recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor