SGT Joe Hooper (D/2-501 IN, 101st ABN DIV) Tet Offensive, Vietnam

21FEB1968: A one man wrecking crew, SGT Joe Hooper wouldn't stop when his unit became pinned down during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. As one of his company mates commented, "he did more in one day, wounded, than I thought could have been done in a month."

Assaulting an enemy position, Hoopers unit became pinned down by machine gun fire from a series of bunkers across a small stream. Taking the initiative, Hooper jumped up and assaulted across the creek taking out all five bunkers. The act motivated his men and they jumped up and followed suit, pressing the attack forward in a fight that would rage for seven hours.

Always moving into enemy fire to retrieve wounded Soldiers, SGT Hooper was hit early and severely wounded. Paying no attention to his wounds, Hooper quickly identified and destroyed three more enemy bunkers in short order. Seeing two enemy fighters attacking a US chaplain, Hooper moved over to kill the two before again identifying a series of fighting positions set up in nearby buildings. Assaulting the buildings, he knocked out all three before starting to return to his lines.

Running out of ammunition in the assault, Hooper was headed to resupply when an enemy officer jumped out and fired his weapon point blank, but it misfired. Turning to run, Hooper chased the enemy down and killed him with his bayonet. Going on to resupply, Hooper then went and cleared yet another bunker before his unit was once more pinned down.

Seeing a trench system connecting the bunkers laying fire into his men, Hooper grabbed a bag of grenades and ran into the trench. As he sprinted the length, he lobbed grenades into each enclosure, destroying all four. Still refusing medical aid until all of his men were taken care of, SGT Hooper would pass out from blood loss the following morning and be evacuated.

He would survive the war and be awarded the Medal of Honor in 1969. After commissioning as an officer, Hooper would continue to serve until 1978 and would unfortunately pass away at the age of 40 in 1979.