Medal of Honor recipient speaking in Athens today

Published 6:00 am Saturday, July 9, 2022

Medal of Honor recipient Captain Mike Rose speaks Saturday morning at 10 A.M. at the Alabama Veterans Museum in Athens.

He speaks on the events that led to him being honored.

Captain Rose, a Huntsville native, received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), where he served as a combat medic. Now retired, Rose enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 4, 1967 and served three tours of duty: Thailand, South Vietnam, and Panama.

While serving the in Vietnam, then, Sergeant Rose’s selfless actions are credited with saving numerous lives and in October 2017, Rose was awarded the Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society described the actions of Rose, stating, “Between 11 and 14 September 1970, Sergeant Rose’s company was continuously engaged by a well-armed and numerically superior hostile force deep in enemy-controlled territory. Enemy B-40 rockets and mortar rounds rained down while the adversary sprayed the area with small arms and machine gun fire, wounding many and forcing everyone to seek cover. Sergeant Rose, braving the hail of bullets, sprinted fifty meters to a wounded soldier’s side.

He then used his own body to protect the casualty from further injury while treating his wounds.

After stabilizing the casualty, Sergeant Rose carried him through the bullet-ridden combat zone to protective cover. As the enemy accelerated the attack, Sergeant Rose continuously exposed himself to intense fire as he fearlessly moved from casualty to casualty, administering life-saving aid.

A B-40 rocket impacted just meters from Sergeant Rose, knocking him from his feet and injuring his head, hand, and foot.

Ignoring his wounds, Sergeant Rose struggled to his feet and continued to render aid to the other injured soldiers.

During an attempted medevac, Sergeant Rose again exposed himself to enemy fire as he attempted to hoist wounded personnel up to the hovering helicopter, which was unable to land due to unsuitable terrain.

The medevac mission was aborted due to intense enemy fire and the helicopter crashed a few miles away due to the enemy fire sustained during the attempted extraction.

Over the next two days, Sergeant Rose continued to expose himself to enemy fire in order to treat the wounded, estimated to be half of the company’s personnel. On September 14, during the company’s eventual helicopter extraction, the enemy launched a full-scale offensive.

Sergeant Rose, after loading wounded personnel on the first set of extraction helicopters, returned to the outer perimeter under enemy fire, carrying friendly casualties and moving wounded personnel to more secure positions until they could be evacuated.

He then returned to the perimeter to help repel the enemy until the final extraction helicopter arrived.

As the final helicopter was loaded, the enemy began to overrun the company’s position, and the helicopter’s Marine door gunner was shot in the neck. Sergeant Rose instantly administered critical medical treatment onboard the helicopter, saving the Marine’s life. The helicopter carrying Sergeant Rose crashed several hundred meters from the evacuation point, further injuring Sergeant Rose and the personnel on board.

Despite his numerous wounds from the past three days, Sergeant Rose continued to pull and carry unconscious and wounded personnel out of the burning wreckage and continued to administer aid to the wounded until another extraction helicopter arrived.”

Coverage on his speech will be provided in Tuesday’s paper.