American Valor Quarterly Issue 5 - Winter 2008/09 | Page 10

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, one of America’s great heroes of Vietnam.
Previous Recipients: 2007 - Lt. General Harold G. Moore, Jr.; 2006 - Colonel George “Bud” Day

Colonel Walter Joseph Marm, USA (Ret)
12:15 PM, November 14, 1965. Men of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry are patrolling H