1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, We've put together a survey for listeners of 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor and we want to hear from you. 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: Tell us what you love about the show, what we 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: can improve on, or stories you think we've missed. We're 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: committed to making this show even better and you can 6 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: help to take the survey. Visit bit dot lee slash 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: h survey. That's bit dot l y slash mh survey. 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: The link is also in our show notes below. Pushkin. 9 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: It was late on a summer night, and Dwight Birdwill 10 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: could sense something was wrong. He was a specialist in 11 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: the Army in command of a tank, and that tank 12 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: was parked alongside a main supply out near a little 13 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: village in South Vietnam. The year was nineteen sixty eight. 14 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,759 Speaker 1: Dwight could hear a group of water buffaloes shuffling and 15 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: grunting in a pen nearby. He had grown up in 16 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 1: the Oklahoma countryside, and he knew that livestock wouldn't move 17 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: at night unless something was disturbing them. He knew in 18 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: his bones that something was wrong. He peered out of 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: the turret of the tank, using his starlight scope to 20 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: cut through the blackness of the night nothing, but he 21 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: couldn't shake the feeling. He decided to go out and look. 22 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: He woke up the driver of his tank, a gentle 23 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: guy named Bill Watts, and asked him to take his 24 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: place at the turret, and then Dwight headed out into 25 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: the night. He crossed the road, moving quietly through the brush, 26 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: listening intently to see if he could hear whatever it 27 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: was he felt. He crept house to house in the village, 28 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: shining his flashlight over families sleeping on bamboo platforms, finding nothing, 29 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: hearing nothing, just the slow breathing of sleeping civilians and 30 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: the sound of the insects in the night. So Dwight 31 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: turned to head back to the tank, and at that 32 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: very moment, three or four rocket propelled grenades flashed by him, 33 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: hissing as they went. It was a sound that Dwight 34 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: was horrifyingly familiar with. Dwight watched as they hit his 35 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: take the tank's cash of ammunition was set off, fueling 36 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:49,119 Speaker 1: the explosion. The noise of the blast rocked a little village. 37 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: Then he saw something bright like a comet, fall from 38 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: the tank. It was Bill Watts. He was on fire, 39 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: and Dwight bird well started running I'm j R. Martinez 40 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: and this is Medal of Honor Stories of Courage. The 41 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the 42 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: United States, awarded for gallantry and bravery and combat at 43 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty. 44 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: Each candidate must be approved all the way up the 45 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: chain of command, from the supervisory officer in the field 46 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: to the White House. This show is about those heroes, 47 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: what they did, what it meant, and what their stories 48 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. That moment, 49 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: that night at the tank changed the course of Dwight 50 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: Birdwell's life. It transformed him from a tough twenty year 51 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: old determined to fight into someone who could not look 52 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: away from the terrible cost of war, someone who would 53 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,279 Speaker 1: ask God at that moment and for many years afterwards, 54 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: why was I the one to survive? Dwight's story is 55 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: about a lot of things. It's about the prior he 56 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: feels in being part of the Cherokee Nation, a community 57 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: with a remarkable history of military service. It's about his 58 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: extraordinary bravery in the battlefield. An episode that feels like 59 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: it's straight out of a Rambo movie. Dwight it turns out, 60 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: is a guy who put himself in harm's way over 61 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: and over again because that's where he felt he belonged. 62 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: But most of all, it's the story of a man 63 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: coming to grips with the feeling of guilt that even 64 00:04:47,800 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: the highest honor in the military cannot absolve. Dwight Birdwell 65 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: never really knew his father. His dad was an oil 66 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: filled worker of Cherokee descent, a hard drinking man who 67 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,239 Speaker 1: was in and out of jail a lot. He pretty 68 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,840 Speaker 1: much disappeared from Dwight's life when he was little. When 69 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: Dwight was three, his mother met and married Ed Birdwell. 70 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: They settled in Oklahoma in a town called Bell Here's 71 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: Dwight remembering. 72 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 2: The community was about ninety percent Cherokee, maybe more. It 73 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 2: was a very very rural area, an area of poverty. 74 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: It was a hard life what people may do. 75 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 2: I lived right on a creek, and every morning I 76 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 2: remember a Cherokee lady coming down the creek. In the evening, 77 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,119 Speaker 2: she would come back and she would have a shring 78 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 2: of fish over her shoulder that she had caught to 79 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 2: feed her family. 80 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: Dwight's stepdad was a farmer and his mother worked in 81 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: the fields picking beans and strawberries. Even though Dwight was 82 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: a talented student, he was discouraged from even thinking about 83 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: going to college. The message from his high school counselor 84 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: was essentially, you're an Indian, you won't amount to anything. 85 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: But Dwight was determined. He decided to find his own 86 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: way out by joining the military. He knew the GI 87 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: bill would send him to school, and he liked the 88 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:27,359 Speaker 1: idea of service. 89 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 2: A lot of the Cherokee man in the community and 90 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 2: area had served in World War Two and served in Korea, 91 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 2: and they emphasized that it was a Cherokee tradition to serve. 92 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 2: So I did it out of a sense of duty 93 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 2: to the country and out of a sense of obligation 94 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 2: to Cherokee ancestors. 95 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: Dwight was eighteen, with deep set eyes and a crooked smile, 96 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: and dark hair parted on the side. He was already 97 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: fit for the army, but not because he played football 98 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: or basketball or wrestled. Get this, because he worked chasing 99 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: chickens six nights a week. 100 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 2: We left home about five retractions in the evening and 101 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 2: went to northwest Arkansas and caught chickens all night until daybreak. 102 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 2: You go in and catch the chickens, and then you 103 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 2: would run outside and you would climb up onto a 104 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 2: flatbed truck and load the chickens, run back down and 105 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,679 Speaker 2: go get another bat. Shopping all night long. 106 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: That's a random detail, but I love it. I'm just 107 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: not sure I've ever heard of a night time chicken 108 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: catcher before. What even is that? Anyways, back to Dwight 109 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: in the Army. When he enlisted, he asked to be 110 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: sent straight to Vietnam. This was spring of nineteen sixty 111 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: six and the war was just warming up. Even though 112 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: Dwight tested so well that he could have gone to 113 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: office a tree and at West Point, he chose combat instead. 114 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 2: I felt like that was my duty, my mission, to 115 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 2: go where I was most neated, and I felt like 116 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 2: I was most neated in Vietnam. Of course, I didn't 117 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 2: necessarily want to die, but if that was my destiny, 118 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 2: that would be my destiny. 119 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: In September of nineteen sixty seven, Dwight landed at Tunsut 120 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: Airport outside of Saigon. He remembers marveling and how beautiful 121 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: and green the countryside looked from the plane, and he 122 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: remembers seeing a line of body bags on the side 123 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: of the runway and thinking this is it. I'm here. 124 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,559 Speaker 1: Dwight was assigned to Troop C, third Squadron, fourth Cavalry, 125 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: twenty fifth Infantry Division, which we're going to refer to 126 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: the way that he did as the three quarter calf. 127 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: It was task was securing Highway One, the main supply 128 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: route running north from Saigon to the Cambodian border. Dwight 129 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: was well liked and for once his intelligence was recognized, 130 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: he was given a spot doing radio repair, but he 131 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: didn't like the relative safety of the rare echelon. He 132 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: wanted to fight, and before long he joined a tank 133 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,599 Speaker 1: crew as a gunner. He knew exactly how dangerous it 134 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: would be. 135 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 2: If you're going to tank you've got an iron coffin. 136 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 2: It's just a matter of time. 137 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: Dwight was convinced that the US was right to be 138 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:35,599 Speaker 1: in Vietnam. He saw the bodies of town officials assassinated 139 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: by the National Liberation Front. He knew how brave they 140 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: must have been to stand up for their values. But 141 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: he saw dead via Con guerrillas too. They were young, 142 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: about his age, and Dwight looked at them and thought 143 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: they aren't evil. They're just as idealistic as I am. 144 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: But as nineteen sixty seven turned to nineteen sixty eight, 145 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: Dwight and his this platoon began to stumble across well 146 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: hidden bunkers, caches of weapons, signs of movement of change, 147 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: And then the early morning of January thirty first, it 148 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: happened a coordinated attack throughout South Vietnam. It would be 149 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,959 Speaker 1: known as the Tet Offensive. Here's a news report describing 150 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: the situation in nineteen sixty eight. 151 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 3: It all amounts to the most ambitious series of communist 152 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 3: attacks yet mounted, spreading violence into at least ten provincial capitals, 153 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 3: plus American air bases and civilian installations, stretching the entire 154 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 3: length of the country. 155 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: The order came down to Dwight and the three quarter 156 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: Calf to get to Tan Sanute Airport. It was the 157 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: most active air base in the country. 158 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,199 Speaker 2: They said, there is a squad of VC breaking into 159 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 2: the wire at Tan Shanut with preeport. Cab was so 160 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 2: confident that we sent two turns down. There were only 161 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 2: about sixty off. It went down and overtook ptains. 162 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: They thought they would only be fighting a ragged handful 163 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: of viacom. They'd outpowered and outgunned. That kind of enemy 164 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: forced before. So the men got into their tanks and 165 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,959 Speaker 1: went But what awaited was in a skirmish. It was 166 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: an ambush. The tanks of the three quarter calf barreled 167 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: down Highway one toward the Tansanute airfield. The second platoon 168 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: was at the lead, third platoon Twipe's platoon followed behind. 169 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: Third tracks kicked up dust as they rumbled forward. Through 170 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: their early morning hours, the sky grew lighter and overcast gray. 171 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,439 Speaker 1: The trip down was abnormally quiet. The convoy passed no 172 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: civilian traffic on the road, and the nearby houses seemed 173 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,719 Speaker 1: to be deserted. It was almost peaceful. Then the lead 174 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: tank reached the airport and a wall of fire erupted 175 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: from a hamlet along the side of the road. 176 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 2: Chaos. They let us go right into the middle and 177 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 2: then cut loose, and within a very short period of 178 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 2: time a couple of minutes to laid patone was pretty 179 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 2: much wiped out. 180 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: It wasn't a scrappy group of Vietcong that was waiting. 181 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: It was the North Vietnamese Army, and they now surrounded 182 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: the convoy on three sides. The sky was suddenly filled 183 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: with eerie green lights falling towards the American tanks. They 184 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: were tracers which the North Vietnamese used to see where 185 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: their fire was going. 186 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 2: And there's all these green craisiers coming out and all 187 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 2: these rockets coming in. Boom boom, boom boom, and I'm 188 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,439 Speaker 2: thank you. What in the world's going on? 189 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: Dwight's tank was at the very front of his platoon. 190 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: As the lead platoon exploded, his tank pulled in right 191 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: behind them. One of Dwight's friends, franklin Kuff, was in 192 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: the lead platoon. He and other veterans who knew Dwight 193 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: spoke about their experiences in a documentary made by Osio 194 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: voices of the Cherokee people. Frank remembers seeing Dwyke's tank 195 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: rattle into place. 196 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 4: Man, it's seeing good. We gotta do something. And that's 197 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 4: when Sir Petun Comb pulling up and there's Doy like 198 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 4: a Knight in shining armor. 199 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: Almost instantly, Dwight's tank commander was hit a bloody hole 200 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: where his left eye had been. Dwight got down and 201 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: lifted his commander out of the tank under heavy fire 202 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: and put him in the ditch that ran just along 203 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: the side of the road. The injured gis from the 204 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: lead platoon were gathering there as well, and then Dwight 205 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: returned to his tank and took command. Every vehicle ahead 206 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: of him had been put out of action, and there 207 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: was no way to retreat. There were too many wounded 208 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: that would be left behind. 209 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 2: I can't remember the bullet climb by my head, you know, 210 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 2: just thank boy, that's an unpleasant sounds. But I kept going. 211 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: He started firing back. He didn't have time to fill 212 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: any fear. There was no place for it. He used 213 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: the tank's cannon, he used the tank's machine gun. His 214 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: head and torso were exposed to enemy fire, but somehow 215 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: the bullets didn't find him. In the meantime, more survivors 216 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: from the Leeds platoon were making their way to Dwight's position. 217 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: The ditch beside his tank was the only spot with 218 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: any kind of relative safety. Even though the enemy was 219 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: advancing close on Dwight's left, he couldn't fire the tank's 220 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: cannon in that direction because he would hit those wounded gis. 221 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: So instead, he got up on that tank, took aim 222 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: with his machine gun, and opened fire. David Young was 223 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: one of those soldiers taking cover in the ditch that day. 224 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 4: If it hadn't been for these high fired rounds going 225 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 4: over my head the other way, I wouldn't be here today. 226 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: Dwight was fully exposed to enemy fire. Bullets whizzed by, 227 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: close enough to blow the communication device off of his 228 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: tanker helmet, but still he didn't get hit. 229 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 2: What was going through my mind was to keep fighting 230 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 2: until I went down, and if I went down, I 231 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 2: wasn't gonna shop. 232 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: Part of his helmet was shot off. He could no 233 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: longer provide battlefield updates to his commanders. He couldn't get 234 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: any guidance either. All he could do was shoot and 235 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: drive the enemy back until he used. 236 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 2: Up all my ammunition. 237 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: There was a helicopter directly above him. It was the 238 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: three quarter Calves Commander Lieutenant Colonel Glenn Otis. He was 239 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: circling the action, leading from the sky. All of the 240 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: men in a three quarter Calve adored Otis. He was 241 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: a brilliant leader, fair and brave, ready to be as 242 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: much a part of the action as his men were. 243 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: And then Otis's helicopter took a direct hit. It was 244 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: about to crash, and it was heading straight for Dwight's position. 245 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 2: You know, I'm watching a helicopter come down. It's thinking 246 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 2: this is not real. 247 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: The helicopter hit the ground, bounced hard, and came to 248 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: a stop, the skids mashing down the bar wire fence 249 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: that ran alongside of the airport. Otis and his crew 250 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: got out and ran from the helicopter as fast as 251 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: they could in case it caught fire. Dwight watched them 252 00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: scramble away, and then he thought that helicopter has something 253 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: that I need. He hopped down from the tank and 254 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: raced to the chopper, cutting his legs on the concertina wire. 255 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: Dwight made it to the chopper, pulled two machine guns out. 256 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,640 Speaker 1: He passed one to a front, got the other back 257 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 1: on top of his tank and opened fire. 258 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 2: He wasn't slowing down at all. He just kept doing 259 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 2: a job. 260 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: He kept going, protecting those wounded men in the ditch 261 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: next to him, holding off the enemy. And then inevitably 262 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:36,920 Speaker 1: he was hit. 263 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 2: I just remember a big flash and Lord of blood 264 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,959 Speaker 2: coming out of my head and down my face, at 265 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 2: my chest and what have you. 266 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: He had shrump, no wounds. He was bleeding badly, but 267 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: Dwight wasn't worried about that. He didn't feel like he 268 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: was particularly injured. He was worried about his gun, and 269 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 1: of course. 270 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 2: That sixty was in two pieces. I'm looking at my gun. 271 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 2: It's like a toy, you know. I had torn a hack. 272 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,400 Speaker 2: What am I gonna do now? 273 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: He only had the side arm in his holster. It 274 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: would have to be enough. They were shooting all around him, 275 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: and the enemy was still on every side. He was 276 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: bleeding from his head. He was majorly outnumbered, but he 277 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: hadn't lost his resolve. 278 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 2: So I just felt like, I'm going to fight as 279 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 2: long as I can. I wasn't gonna say die until 280 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 2: I was dead. 281 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,639 Speaker 1: So I got off the tank and went down to 282 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: the ditch where the other soldiers were. He rallied three 283 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: of them to advance to the front of the column 284 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: of tanks to set up a defensive position. It was 285 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: a crazy move, four guys trying to hold off a 286 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: ton of enemy fighters, but to Dwight, it was the 287 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: only move, the only way to keep the enemy from 288 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: coming over the top and get into the wounded gis. 289 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 2: One guy was a non Indian from our harbor Main, 290 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 2: and I got two Native Americans from Port Gambo Washington, 291 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 2: who was actually a medic Oliver Jones, and then there 292 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 2: was an Ottawa from Michigan, and we went down the ditch, 293 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 2: took up a position to hold off the North Vietnam mainons, 294 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 2: and we were pretty low in the ammunition and it 295 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 2: looked like that it was almost over with. 296 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: They huddled in front of the convoys lead tank, but 297 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: little big tree that stood alone by the road. When 298 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: they peeked over the edge of the ditch, they could 299 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: see hundreds of enemy soldiers. They were massively outnumbered. Dwight 300 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: looked over at the airfield where he arrived in Vietnam 301 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: less than a year before, where he'd seen those green 302 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: body bags. 303 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 2: It was an eerie feeling at that point because we 304 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 2: were right on the runway and these large airliners then 305 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 2: PanAm World air Waves were sitting out there just ready 306 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 2: to check off. 307 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: Those airplanes were filled with people getting out of Vietnam, 308 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: escaping from the war, going home to safety. 309 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 2: Here we were about to die looking at those big planes, 310 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,719 Speaker 2: and just was very very strange. Failing. 311 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: Dwight and the other soldiers threw grenades at the enemy. 312 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: Machine gun rounds hit the tree above their heads. Showering 313 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: them with leaves and branches, and then they heard the 314 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: rumble of vehicles. Troop BE of the cavalry was coming 315 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 1: to help. Even with his life on the line, Dwight 316 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: saw some humor in that. 317 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 2: You know in the movie the cab is always saving 318 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 2: nine Indians from Indians. Here's these three Indians being saved. 319 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 2: That wasn't a movie script. The cabs saving the Indians. 320 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: Helicopters flew low over the open fields. Dwight remembers them 321 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:08,160 Speaker 1: laying down a smoke screen to conceal the arrival of troopy. 322 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:13,360 Speaker 1: Then the air filled with the sound of American tanks 323 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: taking out the enemy positions. The wounded gi started getting 324 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: loaded onto Metavac helicopters. Dwight was ordered to board one too. 325 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: Remember he was bleeding from his head. He got on 326 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 1: it all right, but then he just slid across and 327 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: out the other side of the chopper and returned to 328 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: the fight. 329 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 2: I had to get back on the battle. I could 330 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 2: still go. 331 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: He helped the other men, those wounded guys in the ditch, 332 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: loading them onto helicopters, getting them to safety, and then 333 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: finally he was forced to get help himself. 334 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 2: I've put on a helicopter and it was full of bodies. 335 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: That helicopter felt like an airborne morgue. But it could 336 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: have been so much worse. 337 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 4: He saved many, many, many lives that day. You just 338 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 4: can't believe what he did that name. It's hard for 339 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 4: me to believe it, and I saw it. 340 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: The Army agreed with Frank. Dwight received a Silver Star 341 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: for his actions that day. He was, by all accounts, 342 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: a bone of fide hero. He knew that his survival 343 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 1: was nothing short of a miracle, but the thought of 344 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 1: the people he couldn't save nagged at him. And then, 345 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 1: several months later, on a creepily quiet night, it all caught. 346 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 2: Up with him. 347 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: After ted the war and Vietnam changed, the enemy suddenly 348 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: seemed to be everywhere. Morale among the American troops was terrible. 349 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,200 Speaker 1: Their focus went from winning the war, whatever that might mean, 350 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: to just surviving and getting home. Dwight had been a 351 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: true believer, but he began to feel dragged down and depressed. 352 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: All the same, he still had his unique capacity to 353 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: keep pushing forward, and even when he wavered, he took 354 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: his commitment to service seriously, which meant that his fight 355 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: of a lifetime kept happening. Here's his friend Ted Bagley, 356 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 1: who served with him, speaking on that Ossio documentary. We 357 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: talk about Tomson Knut and the things he did, but 358 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: he did that the whole time we were in Vietnam. 359 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 2: It wasn't a one time as fair. That's what people 360 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 2: don't understand. 361 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: Dwight received another Silver Star in July of sixty eight 362 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: for going back into an enemy occupied village to rescue 363 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: stranded American troops. Nobody had wanted that assignment, but Dwight 364 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: volunteered for it, not once, but twice, over and over again. 365 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: Dwight put his life on the line and survived. Birdie 366 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 1: had at least ten tons of news. He became commander 367 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: of a tank and was particularly close with two of 368 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: the soldiers that served with him, Bill Watts and Harold Donnelly. 369 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: Harold and Dwight were best friends, pretty much inseparable, and 370 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: Dwight looked up to Bill. 371 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 2: Bill Watch was very tender guy, very compassionate, had a 372 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 2: view of life that took me years to get. 373 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,680 Speaker 1: Two Which brings us to that night by the road 374 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,400 Speaker 1: in that little village, the one I told you about 375 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: at the start of the episode. A stifling hot July 376 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: night in nineteen sixty eight, Dwight's platoon was set up 377 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: along the roadside. The water buffaloes moved in their pen 378 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: as Dwight peered out into the darkness to figure out 379 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 1: what he was sensing, what felt wrong. 380 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 2: I got bailed up and I put him in a turret. 381 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 2: I said, you take over. I'm gonna go out there 382 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 2: and do some recon. So I went out searching for 383 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 2: North Vietnam ass and I couldn't find anything. 384 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,959 Speaker 1: And that's when he turned and saw the RPGs hit 385 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: the tank and his friend Bill fall out of it 386 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: on fire from head to toe. 387 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 2: Bill Wats came out of that tank tent a ball. 388 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: Of fire, just like in tons of nude. Dwight didn't hesitate, 389 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 1: so I run. 390 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 2: Back to the tank, didn't get Bill. But as I'm 391 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 2: carrying him out, my friend Harold Donaldy said, Dwight, help me, 392 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 2: help me. 393 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: I'm hurt. 394 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,959 Speaker 2: I said, Harold, I'll be back and help you when 395 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 2: I can. You be a man, you take that pain. 396 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,480 Speaker 1: Being a man taking that pain was the logic Dwight 397 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: had learned over all those months in Vietnam. But after 398 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 1: he got Bill out, of Harm's way and went back 399 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: for Harold. He saw what had become of his friend. 400 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,880 Speaker 2: So I got back after I'm taken care of Bill, 401 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 2: got Harold, picked him up. Harold was mangled his splash. Listen, patients, strings, 402 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 2: hang on, and forever to this day, feel bad about 403 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 2: what I said too. Hold on. 404 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: I just want to pause here and point something out. 405 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: This recording was made more than fifty years after that 406 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 1: terrible traumatic night, and Dwight is still crying when he 407 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: remembers the way he spoke to his friend. I think 408 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: that tells you more than anything else. Who Dwight birdwill is. 409 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: A day or so later, he went to see Bill 410 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: in the hospital. He was racked with guilt. He kept 411 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,919 Speaker 1: thinking it should have been me. I should have been 412 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 1: able to prevent this. He was looking for his friend, 413 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: not seeing them anywhere, when. 414 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 2: I heard this boy and it was Bill. Don't you 415 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 2: recognize me? I didn't recognize the burns he had. I 416 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 2: were fierce, and I knew he was dying. And we 417 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 2: talked for a bet and afterwards went out. I sat down. 418 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 2: I just cried and cried and cried. 419 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: And then he noticed people next to him sitting in 420 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: that same waiting area. 421 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 2: He's a bit a family, come I right, and they 422 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,880 Speaker 2: had a young girl, probably six or seven years old. 423 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 2: Incredibly beautiful young lady. They're so pretty, and she was 424 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 2: so happy. 425 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: Here is something Dwight hadn't seen for months, something beautiful 426 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 1: and peaceful and warm, an antidote to the pain of 427 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: seeing his dying friend. 428 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden, she turned her whole 429 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 2: face to me, and it was blown away on the 430 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 2: right side of her face. 431 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,920 Speaker 1: The side of her face was a mass of scar tissue. 432 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 2: Her eye was gone, and I just thought, noted it out. 433 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:36,400 Speaker 1: No more. 434 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 2: I can't take this anymore. 435 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: Dwight Birdwill, the truest of the true believers, the first 436 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: to volunteer for action. The warrior was done with the war, 437 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: just done. He served the rest of his tour, and 438 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: then he got out as as fast as he could. 439 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: When his flight left Vietnam, Dwight looked out the window. 440 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: The green paradise that had greeted him when he'd flown 441 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: in sixteen months before was gone, and its place was 442 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: a landscape that looked like the surface of the moon, 443 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: pock marked with craters, burned and destroyed. He wondered to himself, 444 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: what was it all for? Bill died of his injuries. 445 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: Harold Donnelly survived, but with medical issues that would plague 446 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: him the rest of his life. He and Dwight stayed 447 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: in touch until he died. Dwight always felt that he 448 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: had been bad luck for Harold. Dwight took Bill's dog 449 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: tags with him when he left Vietnam. He carried it 450 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: on his keychain for years, as a reminder, maybe or 451 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: a pendance Dwight's story does it end there? Of course, 452 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: the army gave him the ability to do the thing 453 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: everyone said he couldn't do, go to college become a lawyer. 454 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: He married a sweet girl named Virginia, who had also 455 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: grown up poor in a Cherokee community near his They 456 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 1: had two kids, a daughter and a son. But none 457 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaker 1: of it was easy for him. When Dwight first returned home, 458 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: he drank, He had nightmares. He carried those memories of 459 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: Bill and Harold, of the other men and the civilians 460 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: he couldn't save with him like a sack of stones, 461 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: And like so many veterans, he cannot talk about the 462 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: war at all. 463 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 2: The war haunted me for years, particularly the salt of 464 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 2: why did I survive and so many other UH purists. 465 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,560 Speaker 1: Then, late one night in nineteen seventy nine, as Dwight 466 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: was drinking himself, as he puts it, to the bottom 467 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: of a fifth of bourbon, he decided two things. The 468 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: first to stop drinking. The second was to stop obsessing 469 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,960 Speaker 1: over the things he could have done differently in Vietnam. 470 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 2: I had a reckoning. I came to the conclusion that 471 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 2: there was nothing I could do about the past. I 472 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 2: could just live for the future. 473 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: Right around that time, something else happened. Dwight saw his 474 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: old commander, Glenn Otis again in Vietnam. 475 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 2: He had told me a few days after talk said, 476 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 2: he said, I'm going to recommend you for the Medal. 477 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: Of Honor, but nothing had ever come of it. No 478 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: out here was Otis, who had become a four star 479 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: general since the two had parted ways in Vietnam. 480 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 2: He asked me, what happened to the medal of honor? 481 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 2: Are not? Probably me said we're going to have to 482 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 2: do something about that, And I just felt like that, 483 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,920 Speaker 2: you know, if that's one of those changes would never happened. 484 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: The years kept going by. In addition to his law practice, 485 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: Dwight went to work for the Cherokee Nation, serving as 486 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: one of three justices of the Supreme Court. Eventually he 487 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: served two terms as Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation. 488 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 1: It's a fitting role for a man who could so 489 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: clearly see both sides of a conflict, and all during 490 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: that time and for long afterwards, General Otis worked to 491 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: get Dwight his Medal of Honor for his brave stand 492 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: at the airport that first day of the Tech offensive. 493 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 2: I never wanted the medal of honor. All I wanted 494 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 2: was a fair consideration. General ODIs got me that per consideration. 495 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 1: Finally, in May of twenty twenty two, more than five 496 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: decades is that action at Tons newd It happened. 497 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 2: I got a call from President Biden and he said, 498 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 2: I'm going to award to you Adelbonner, and he talked 499 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 2: to me very graciously for about ten minutes. Going into 500 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 2: the conversation, he said, this is a big deal. And 501 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 2: then somewhere else in the conversation on down the road, 502 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 2: he said, this is a big deal. 503 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,400 Speaker 1: It is a big deal. But like so many men 504 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: who have been awarded the medal, Dwight doesn't see it 505 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: as something for him. He sees it as something for 506 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: all those other men who fought and didn't survive. 507 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 2: This medal is for the men who went down that day. 508 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 2: It's for the family except those who didn't make it. 509 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 2: It's for those who were injured and later died or 510 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 2: later lived impaired lives. I'm thankful for it. I don't 511 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 2: mean to show you that I'm not thankful, but for 512 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 2: doth Men, their family, for the Tree Quarter k and 513 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:17,960 Speaker 2: the twenty fifth Temperantry Division. 514 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,840 Speaker 1: President Biden put the medal around Dwight's neck. 515 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 5: And at a long last, at long last, your story 516 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,280 Speaker 5: is being honored as it should have been always. 517 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,080 Speaker 1: Some of Dwight's friends from the calv were there at 518 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: the ceremony. So was his daughter, Stephanie, who currently serves 519 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,880 Speaker 1: as the director of the Office of Tribal Government Relations 520 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:42,600 Speaker 1: at the Department of Veteran Affairs. 521 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 5: And I might know, Native American communities serve in the 522 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 5: United States Armed Forces at a higher percentage rate than 523 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,360 Speaker 5: any other cohort in America. 524 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,800 Speaker 1: Dwight's daughter thinks she understands why. 525 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 2: That might be. Native people, as the original inhabit to 526 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,919 Speaker 2: this land, have an especially strong connection. 527 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 4: To the land we live on. 528 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 2: It is truly our homeland, and that can be a 529 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 2: powerful inspiration and source of motivation to serve. 530 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,680 Speaker 1: When Dwight walked away from the war in Vietnam, he 531 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:17,280 Speaker 1: stopped doing one kind of service, but he didn't stop serving. 532 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: He worked to help the Cherokee nation as persistent as 533 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: he ever was on the battlefield. I think his devotion 534 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,759 Speaker 1: to service must stem in part from the guilt that 535 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,879 Speaker 1: he still carries even today about the people he wasn't 536 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,439 Speaker 1: able to save. But it also stems from his deep 537 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: bedrock of faith. He believes that when his time comes, 538 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:46,400 Speaker 1: he will stand before his God and maybe then finally 539 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 1: he will find the absolution that he can't give himself. 540 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 2: And then, but I did go up for Judge Vun. 541 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,719 Speaker 2: If I had the courage, I would ask God, why 542 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 2: did you let me lay up? Did I fulfill your flirtation? 543 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: The Medal of Honor, by definition, tells the world that 544 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:11,960 Speaker 1: Dwight Birdwill didn't just fulfill expectations. He went far, far 545 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,960 Speaker 1: above and beyond them. I can't imagine his Maker will disagree. 546 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor. Stories of Courage is written by Meredith 547 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: Rollins and produced by Mereth Rollins, Jess Shane and Suzanne Gabber. 548 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: Our editor is Ben Adolf Hoffrey. Sound design and additional 549 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,800 Speaker 1: music by Jake Gorsky. Our executive producer is Constanza Gallardo. 550 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: Fact checking by Arthur Gomperts. Original the music by Eric Phillips. 551 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 1: Special thanks to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the 552 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:09,360 Speaker 1: US Department of Veteran Affairs, and Cherokee Film Productions for 553 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,800 Speaker 1: sharing material from At Long Last, Dwight Birdwell's Medal of 554 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:18,720 Speaker 1: Honor from the docu series Oscio Voices of the Cherokee People. 555 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 1: We also want to hear from you, so send us 556 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:26,280 Speaker 1: your personal story of courage or highlight someone else's bravery. 557 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:31,800 Speaker 1: Email us at Medal of Honor at Pushkin dot fm. 558 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 1: You might hear your stories on future episodes of Metal 559 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,799 Speaker 1: of Honor or see them on our social channels at 560 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: Pushkin Pods. I'm your host, JR. Martinez