The 4-Day Battle That Nearly K*lled Them All Earned Him the Medal of Honor

About this video

A Medal of Honor recipient recounts his service in Vietnam from 1966-67, focusing on the four-day Battle of Phu Loc where he led a 10-man team and a war dog named King. He describes intense combat at Phu Loc and a three-month battle at Khe Sanh, emphasizing that his team suffered no fatalities despite everyone being wounded. Years after initially receiving the Silver Star, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, which he notes made him the first African American Marine Corps officer to receive the distinction.

Key takeaways

• The guest recounts the Battle of Phu Loc as a four-day mission involving hand-to-hand combat where his war dog King was killed and all his men were wounded, but he states no one was lost.
• The guest describes staying behind to evacuate wounded men and his dog’s body, refusing to leave until everyone else was extracted, which he indicates was a significant factor in his Medal of Honor recommendation.
• The guest explains that he initially received the Silver Star for his actions, but years later a general and team advocated for upgrading the award, resulting in the President calling to inform him he would receive the Medal of Honor.
• The guest recounts three months of combat at Khe Sanh against Chinese and Vietnamese divisions, describing nightly assaults and hand-to-hand combat where American forces, including non-combat personnel like cooks and bakers, held the base.

Episode details: published June 11, 2026 · 3.5K views · 23:36 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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