Vietnam veteran receives valor Distinguished Service Cross
Fay Observer
By Drew Brooks Military editor
Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2014
A former soldier was honored with the military's second-highest award for valor earlier this year, 46 years after his act of heroism.
Retired Master Sgt. Patrick N. Watkins Jr. received the Distinguished Service Cross in a ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base in May.
The medal rewards Watkins for his actions on Aug. 23, 1963, according to the citation.
At the time, he was a staff sergeant assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, then headquartered at Fort Bragg.
Watkins was at the headquarters of Command and Control North the morning of Aug. 23, when the compound became the focus of a well-coordinated attack by a North Vietnamese Army sapper force, according to the citation.
Watkins was wounded in the initial assault but was able to organize a small reaction force to repel the attack and rescue wounded Americans.
The soldier led other Americans to defense positions through a "gauntlet of machine gun fire and grenades," according to the citation. He "disregarded his own safety to direct the recovery of the many wounded men and repeatedly engaged and killed enemy sappers."
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