American Valor Quarterly Issue 2 - Spring 2008 | Page 9

Joe Ronnie Hooper Award
For distinguished service in the United States military during the Vietnam War
The most decorated soldier in international combat in American history, Joe Ronnie Hooper, a native
South Carolinian, joined the military when he was 19 years old. He was deployed with the 501st
Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, popularly known as the Delta Raiders in 1966. During
his two tours of duty in Vietnam, Hooper killed at least 115 Vietnamese. Surpassing both Sergeant
Alvin York and Second Lieutenant Audie Murphy, Hooper earned 37 medals, including two Silver
Stars, six Bronze Stars and eight Purple Hearts. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his
courage on February 21, 1968 in the battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive. Among his many acts of
valor that day, he is credited with single-handedly destroying three enemy bunkers, eliminating the
enemy in four more with grenades and killing additional Vietnamese with his rifle and bayonet. He
accomplished these feats while he was wounded, refusing medical help until his line was restored.
Hooper retired as a captain in 1972 at the age of 34 as one of America’s great heroes of Vietnam.
Previous Recipient:
2006 - Colonel George “Bud” Day
Medal of Honor

Lt. General Harold G. Moore, Jr.
November 14, 1965 - Landing Zone X-Ray, Central Highlands of South Vietnam.
American soldiers, men of the 5th and 7th Cavalries – commanded by then-Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore
– face off with elements of the People’s Army of Vietnam and a battalion of the National Liberation
Front—the Viet Cong.
X-Ray presented an array of problems for Moore’s troops: small helicopter landing zones, tall elephant
grass and a massive surrounding enemy force familiar with the terrain and unafraid to die in large numbers.
Shortly after touching down, and without the full strength of his troops, Moore’s men came under heavy
fire. His men were attacked day and night; the fighting was fierce and direct – sometimes even hand to
hand.

Moore’s troops were also at a disadvantage due to a unit that became separated early on. It was not until
very late in the battle at X-Ray that the lost platoon, having sustained a great many casualties, was finally recovered.
This intense battle brought out true courage and compassion as well concrete displays of soldiers’ love for each other and their
country. This valor and loyalty was also exemplified in the helicopter crews that supported the men on the ground at Landing Zone XRay.
The courage under fire displayed by the American soldiers at X-Ray was a reflection of their leader. Hal Moore, a veteran of Korea,
was the first man off the choppers at X-Ray and the last man to leave that bloody clearing. His instincts and presence of mind during
the midst of a ferocious firefight further cemented him as a battlefield legend. To this day, West Point recruits cite Moore as one of
their heroes and one of the men they most admire.
When the fighting ended at landing zone X-Ray, 79 Americans had been killed in action and 121 wounded. The North Vietnamese
suffe ɕ