Gary Lee Littrell (born October 26, 1944) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

command sergeant major who, while serving as an adviser to Army of the Republic of Vietnam's

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

units during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, acted with extraordinary courage during a four-day siege on his battalion, for which he was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

Medal of Honor action

Between April 4 and April 8, 1970, while serving on Advisory Team 21 of I Corps Advisory Group, in Kontum Province,

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...

, Sergeant First Class Littrell was a Light Weapons Infantry Advisor with the 23rd Battalion, 2nd Ranger Group. The battalion was under intense mortar attack — all advisors except Littrell were killed. Unrelentingly, over four days, Littrell kept the battalion inspired, while he directed artillery and air support, distributed ammunition, strengthened faltering defenses, cared for the wounded, and shouted encouragement to the Vietnamese in their own language. For his "sustained extraordinary courage and selflessness", he was awarded the

. The Medal of Honor was presented to Littrell in a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

ceremony by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on October 15, 1973.

Medal of Honor citation

Honors

In 1993, Littrell was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame, which serves to "honor and preserve the contributions of the most extraordinary U.S. Rangers in American history, to identify and highlight individuals as role models for current era Rangers, and to educate the public on the culture of the U.S. Army Rangers."

In later years

Littrell retired from the army in 1985 as a command sergeant major. As of October 2019, Littrell lives in

St. Pete Beach, Florida St. Pete Beach (formerly called St. Petersburg Beach) is a coastal city in Pinellas County, Florida. Known as a tourist destination, St. Pete Beach was formed from the towns of Pass-a-Grille, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach and unincorporated ...

. He makes speaking appearances as part of the Medal of Honor Foundation's Character Development Program to raise public awareness about the legacy of the Medal of Honor. Addressing area high school students, for example, he extols the importance of living a virtuous life, saying, "Integrity is the most important word in the world".

References

* * (Details Littrell's Medal of Honor action)

External links

* (Four Medal of Honor recipients, including Littrell, visit troops in Afghanistan.) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Littrell, Gary 1944 births Living people United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) People from Henderson, Kentucky United States Army non-commissioned officers Recipients of the Air Medal Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor