WEBVTT - The Medic Who Gave Everything: Clarence Sasser’s Longest Night 0:00:17.101 --> 0:00:29.341 Pushkin. It was Sassur Day in Brazoria County, Texas. A 0:00:29.381 --> 0:00:31.941 young man with dark skin and dark hair stood in 0:00:31.941 --> 0:00:35.340 front of a cheering crowd. He wore sunglasses in a 0:00:35.341 --> 0:00:40.340 perfectly pressed uniform. A metal gleamed around his neck. The 0:00:40.421 --> 0:00:43.901 date was March twenty seventh, nineteen sixty nine, and he 0:00:44.021 --> 0:00:47.101 was back from the war in Vietnam. His name was 0:00:47.101 --> 0:00:51.461 Clarence Sassar. He was just twenty one, and this day, 0:00:51.941 --> 0:00:57.261 Sassur Day, was all about celebrating him. Clarence waved and 0:00:57.421 --> 0:01:01.221 smiled as news photographers took his picture. He shook hands 0:01:01.221 --> 0:01:04.821 with county officials, and four jets from the Texas National 0:01:04.821 --> 0:01:09.781 Guard flew overhead in a salute. Clarence had served as 0:01:09.781 --> 0:01:12.821 a medic with the ninth Division of the Army. He 0:01:12.941 --> 0:01:16.381 left his tiny farming community as a part time college student, 0:01:16.860 --> 0:01:21.420 and he returned a celebrity. Reporters followed him as he 0:01:21.461 --> 0:01:25.060 greeted local dignitaries and fans. He was given an oil 0:01:25.101 --> 0:01:30.380 portrait of himself, plaques and citations, government bonds, and honorary 0:01:30.461 --> 0:01:34.261 citizenship to the nearby city of Houston, and then the 0:01:34.301 --> 0:01:37.741 crowd crammed into a high school gymnasium. They wanted to 0:01:37.741 --> 0:01:41.420 hear their hometown heroes speak, but it didn't seem like 0:01:41.461 --> 0:01:46.661 he wanted to. Newspapers noted it later, how uncomfortable Clarence 0:01:46.661 --> 0:01:51.741 Sassar felt, how quiet he was that day. He didn't 0:01:51.741 --> 0:01:55.141 say anything about his action in Vietnam, the one that 0:01:55.261 --> 0:01:58.581 decorated him with the Medal of Honor, and he wouldn't 0:01:59.221 --> 0:02:06.701 for years. I'm j R. Martinez and this is Medal 0:02:06.701 --> 0:02:10.381 of Honor, Stories of Courage. The Medal of Honor is 0:02:10.421 --> 0:02:14.341 the highest military decoration in the United States. It's awarded 0:02:14.381 --> 0:02:17.701 for gallantree and bravery and combat at the risk of life, 0:02:17.781 --> 0:02:21.621 above and beyond the call of duty. Each candidate must 0:02:21.661 --> 0:02:23.701 be approved all the way up the chain of command, 0:02:24.021 --> 0:02:27.221 from the supervisory officer in the field to the White House. 0:02:28.141 --> 0:02:31.341 This show is about those heroes, what they did, what 0:02:31.381 --> 0:02:34.181 it meant, and what their stories tell us about the 0:02:34.301 --> 0:02:39.141 nature of courage and sacrifice. Now, the Medal of Honor 0:02:39.261 --> 0:02:42.381 is all about heroism on the battlefield, but that's not 0:02:42.421 --> 0:02:47.421 where heroism ends, because the medal also requires a different 0:02:47.541 --> 0:02:50.781 kind of bravery from its recipients. It asked them to 0:02:50.861 --> 0:02:54.701 talk about the hardest day of their lives over and 0:02:54.901 --> 0:02:59.141 over and over again. It took a long time for 0:02:59.221 --> 0:03:02.141 Clarence Sasser to be willing to revisit that day in Vietnam. 0:03:02.781 --> 0:03:05.781 When you hear his story, I think you'll understand why. 0:03:06.621 --> 0:03:09.501 He finally shared all the details on tape in two 0:03:09.501 --> 0:03:12.381 thousand and three, when he was in his late fifties, 0:03:13.261 --> 0:03:16.581 Even though more than thirty years had passed, he was 0:03:16.621 --> 0:03:17.781 still uncomfortable. 0:03:18.581 --> 0:03:21.261 Well, let's just get it over with. Let's just get 0:03:21.301 --> 0:03:24.181 it over with. Applying for it pains, let's just get 0:03:24.221 --> 0:03:24.741 it over with. 0:03:25.941 --> 0:03:29.061 As a combat medic, Clarence Sassar risked his life to 0:03:29.101 --> 0:03:32.101 try to save others. He healed them the best he 0:03:32.181 --> 0:03:36.061 could in the worst possible circumstances, and what he did 0:03:36.141 --> 0:03:41.821 was incredibly courageous. And then decades later, he looked around him, 0:03:42.261 --> 0:03:45.061 he saw a need, and he forced himself to be 0:03:45.141 --> 0:04:00.901 brave again. On the morning of January tenth, nineteen sixty eight, 0:04:01.221 --> 0:04:05.261 Clarence Sassar was in the Mekong River Delta of South Vietnam. 0:04:05.901 --> 0:04:08.461 He'd been in the country for about four months, and 0:04:08.541 --> 0:04:13.021 he had seen plenty of combat already. Almost every time 0:04:13.101 --> 0:04:16.581 his unit left base camp, there were firefights or ambushes, 0:04:17.541 --> 0:04:20.661 but on that particular day his company was planning to 0:04:20.820 --> 0:04:21.901 just relax. 0:04:23.301 --> 0:04:27.941 We were scheduled as a backup for us, which meant 0:04:28.101 --> 0:04:31.141 we have an easy mission this trip. All you have 0:04:31.221 --> 0:04:34.461 to do is put out your perimeter and your guards 0:04:34.661 --> 0:04:38.501 run a few patrols at night. We were two days 0:04:38.541 --> 0:04:41.021 into that and joining the two men. 0:04:43.661 --> 0:04:46.941 Then they got the news they were going out into 0:04:46.981 --> 0:04:47.421 the field. 0:04:48.301 --> 0:04:51.861 The battalion commander gave orders for us to go to 0:04:51.941 --> 0:04:55.901 this area and check out some movement he had seen 0:04:55.981 --> 0:04:59.581 from his helicopter. So we were loaded up on the 0:04:59.661 --> 0:05:04.501 helicopters and taken to this area. The movement had been 0:05:04.541 --> 0:05:07.141 seen in the tree line surrounding this rice. 0:05:07.261 --> 0:05:10.861 Patty Clarence and the rest of the Ninth Division were 0:05:11.021 --> 0:05:14.021 part of what they called the Riverine Forces. It was 0:05:14.061 --> 0:05:17.661 a combination of army and navy that patrolled that watery 0:05:17.741 --> 0:05:21.661 region of Vietnam. This news report from the Army explains 0:05:21.701 --> 0:05:22.141 their role. 0:05:23.221 --> 0:05:27.181 The Ninth Division's main responsibility, however, was to help secure 0:05:27.221 --> 0:05:31.821 the Mekong Delta. This vast fertile area is virtually one 0:05:31.901 --> 0:05:37.181 gigantic rice paddy, broken up by rivers, canals, and earthen dikes. 0:05:37.741 --> 0:05:40.661 The Republic of Vietnam Armed forces have been fighting a 0:05:40.701 --> 0:05:44.141 long struggle against the Viet Kong in the Delta. Our 0:05:44.261 --> 0:05:46.621 job was to help them. 0:05:47.061 --> 0:05:49.941 So on January tenth, at about ten in the morning, 0:05:50.341 --> 0:05:52.621 Clarence and the rest of his company got ready to 0:05:52.661 --> 0:05:55.741 load into the choppers. They would be dropped in the 0:05:55.821 --> 0:06:00.981 rice paddy where the commander had seen suspicious movement. Clarence 0:06:01.021 --> 0:06:04.221 said something was wrong before they even took off. The 0:06:04.261 --> 0:06:07.141 men were told to eat up, and he knew that 0:06:07.381 --> 0:06:11.221 meant they'd be out for a while. For about twenty minutes, 0:06:11.301 --> 0:06:15.501 the choppers flew over little rivers and marshes, farmland and jungle. 0:06:16.261 --> 0:06:18.901 Then they got to the rice paddy. As soon as 0:06:18.941 --> 0:06:22.741 the first helicopter touched down, wave after wave of shots 0:06:22.781 --> 0:06:24.101 started coming from the enemy. 0:06:24.901 --> 0:06:27.820 I was on probably the third fourth helicopter. 0:06:28.981 --> 0:06:33.541 We go in and the helicopter start taking five rockets. 0:06:34.461 --> 0:06:39.061 A thoroughly bad situation. When the helicopters got hid and 0:06:39.181 --> 0:06:40.460 plumping down in the water. 0:06:41.741 --> 0:06:44.621 The rice paddy was framed on three sides by woods, 0:06:44.741 --> 0:06:48.101 and enemy soldiers were entrenched in those woods with perfect 0:06:48.101 --> 0:06:52.901 sight lines on the paddy. It was mayhem. The noise 0:06:52.981 --> 0:06:56.940 and wind of the helicopter blades, shots coming from the woodline, 0:06:57.301 --> 0:07:01.341 the door gunners shooting back trying to provide cover, and 0:07:01.461 --> 0:07:04.501 GI's jumping from the choppers into the wet muck of 0:07:04.541 --> 0:07:05.021 the patty. 0:07:05.741 --> 0:07:10.861 The water was probably died deep with maybe needy mud. 0:07:12.621 --> 0:07:15.741 Clarence looked out of the chopper and he hoisted his 0:07:15.781 --> 0:07:22.821 medic bag onto his shoulder. Clarence Assar had never planned 0:07:22.821 --> 0:07:23.421 to go to war. 0:07:24.301 --> 0:07:27.621 I was born in a small train stop down in 0:07:27.661 --> 0:07:32.581 southeast Texas, south of Houston. We were a farm family, 0:07:33.061 --> 0:07:38.581 and as consistent with the early fifties, long through there, 0:07:39.621 --> 0:07:40.861 ye know, things were tough. 0:07:41.061 --> 0:07:41.781 Things were hard. 0:07:42.941 --> 0:07:45.541 He lived with his mom and stepdad and siblings and 0:07:45.581 --> 0:07:50.021 a little farmhouse surrounded by marshy prairies. They were pig farmers. 0:07:50.301 --> 0:07:53.501 They were poor, but they were close knit and happy. 0:07:54.341 --> 0:07:56.781 He was close to his father too. His dad had 0:07:56.781 --> 0:07:59.581 fought in World War Two, and little Clarence had seen 0:07:59.621 --> 0:08:02.621 his army uniform hanging in the closet, but his father 0:08:02.861 --> 0:08:05.821 never spoke a word about his time in the war. 0:08:06.781 --> 0:08:09.661 Clarence was a boy scout. He played football and he 0:08:09.781 --> 0:08:12.261 was one of the best live backers in the history 0:08:12.301 --> 0:08:15.861 of his high school. And he was smart. When he 0:08:15.941 --> 0:08:19.981 left high school in nineteen sixty five, he had big plans. 0:08:20.301 --> 0:08:24.061 I graduated high school number four out of sixty eight. 0:08:24.341 --> 0:08:26.221 Which I thought I was a pretty fair student. 0:08:27.341 --> 0:08:31.821 I left high school and moved into the city of 0:08:31.861 --> 0:08:37.141 Houston and started attending the University of Houston. I was 0:08:37.221 --> 0:08:42.501 a chemistry major and did pretty well, but again, no money. 0:08:42.581 --> 0:08:44.180 The money wasn't there. 0:08:46.621 --> 0:08:49.061 This was just around the time when the military started 0:08:49.141 --> 0:08:52.340 drafting young men to go to Vietnam. There were ways 0:08:52.341 --> 0:08:56.021 to avoid being drafted. You could be disqualified for medical reasons, 0:08:56.381 --> 0:08:58.461 or you could be a full time college student, which 0:08:58.460 --> 0:09:02.540 would defer your drafting. But Clarence, he couldn't afford to 0:09:02.540 --> 0:09:03.700 be a college full time. 0:09:04.420 --> 0:09:06.060 Of course, I have a part time job. 0:09:06.180 --> 0:09:09.581 But the mistake I made was in the age of 0:09:09.780 --> 0:09:14.621 student deferment, of dropping to halftime to work a little 0:09:14.621 --> 0:09:18.901 bit more, and from that point I was drafted, drafted 0:09:18.940 --> 0:09:20.940 into the army. 0:09:21.021 --> 0:09:25.021 He wasn't alone. Men from disadvantaged backgrounds were about twice 0:09:25.101 --> 0:09:27.901 as likely to get drafted, to go to Vietnam and 0:09:28.101 --> 0:09:32.221 to see combat. Poor and working classmen made up roughly 0:09:32.381 --> 0:09:36.540 eighty percent of American troops during the war. Most of 0:09:36.621 --> 0:09:38.261 Clarence's friends were sent to. 0:09:39.381 --> 0:09:43.221 Back during this time. They cleaned out the small towns 0:09:43.940 --> 0:09:47.580 for whatever reason, good, bad, and different, but they cleaned 0:09:47.621 --> 0:09:47.940 them out. 0:09:48.021 --> 0:09:49.141 Most of us served. 0:09:51.460 --> 0:09:53.940 When he got to the army in nineteen sixty seven, 0:09:54.180 --> 0:09:57.181 Clarence went through a battery of tests. He was tapped 0:09:57.180 --> 0:09:58.341 to train as a medic. 0:09:59.580 --> 0:10:03.820 It was the fore runner to paramedics type training that 0:10:03.901 --> 0:10:07.941 you see people go through now. We like to call 0:10:07.981 --> 0:10:12.901 ourselves combat medics. Oh, a lot of medics weren't sent 0:10:13.021 --> 0:10:18.181 into combat. I always knew I would. It's one of 0:10:18.180 --> 0:10:18.820 those things. 0:10:18.820 --> 0:10:20.621 She just you just know. 0:10:21.981 --> 0:10:24.941 Clarence was right. He got to Vietnam and he was 0:10:24.981 --> 0:10:29.381 sent straight into combat. He treated gunshot and shopped no wounds, 0:10:29.660 --> 0:10:32.141 and thanks to the hot and damp weather, a lot 0:10:32.141 --> 0:10:36.300 of jungle rot and jackets too. But the work was satisfying. 0:10:36.700 --> 0:10:39.660 He liked the challenge, but more than that, he liked 0:10:39.660 --> 0:10:41.020 the feeling of brotherhood. 0:10:41.820 --> 0:10:44.540 You have to understand the cam rodery that go on 0:10:45.141 --> 0:10:50.460 between troops in Harm's way. The doc is the closest 0:10:50.501 --> 0:10:53.580 thing to him. He's the one that just may save 0:10:53.660 --> 0:10:56.420 your life. 0:10:55.300 --> 0:10:58.541 And they treated you as such. And I loved it. 0:10:59.460 --> 0:11:05.180 I loved it. Man speaking from experience. That's so true. 0:11:05.660 --> 0:11:09.060 Anybody in the medical field. Man, those are our people. 0:11:10.940 --> 0:11:13.660 Clarence learned to keep his head and remember his training. 0:11:14.300 --> 0:11:16.820 He got to know the men so well they spent 0:11:16.940 --> 0:11:20.501 all of their time together. He realized they relied on 0:11:20.580 --> 0:11:22.420 him no matter the situation. 0:11:23.420 --> 0:11:27.700 The thing with the guys was that if they were hurt, 0:11:28.861 --> 0:11:32.501 they wanted treatment as any of us would. 0:11:33.540 --> 0:11:36.620 I mean, don't care how heavy a fire was. 0:11:37.420 --> 0:11:41.580 If he was laying out in the danger and he's hurt, 0:11:41.861 --> 0:11:45.060 he expected the medic to come and see what he 0:11:45.060 --> 0:11:47.741 could do about it. He didn't care about the medic 0:11:47.820 --> 0:11:49.221 maybe getting killed coming. 0:11:50.261 --> 0:11:52.701 He expected you to come. 0:11:54.580 --> 0:11:58.461 Then came January tenth. That day in the Rice patty. 0:11:59.221 --> 0:12:02.261 Clarence knew in his bones what was waiting. He saw 0:12:02.300 --> 0:12:04.421 it as soon as he looked out of the chopper. 0:12:05.180 --> 0:12:06.420 The helicopters down. 0:12:07.621 --> 0:12:12.821 We have probably I don't remember fourteen more coming with 0:12:12.940 --> 0:12:16.341 the rest of the company. It wasn't any choice. We 0:12:16.460 --> 0:12:18.980 had to go in. So we were dumped in the 0:12:19.060 --> 0:12:19.660 Rice patty. 0:12:21.901 --> 0:12:24.461 Shots were coming from three directions, and the patty was 0:12:24.460 --> 0:12:29.540 turning into a killing floor. Men screaming, already hit mortar 0:12:29.621 --> 0:12:35.101 shells exploding. The noise was deafening. As Clarence jumped out 0:12:35.141 --> 0:12:38.261 of the helicopter, he was shot through the leg. It 0:12:38.341 --> 0:12:40.981 was only a superficial wound, but it pitched him into 0:12:41.021 --> 0:12:41.381 the mud. 0:12:41.981 --> 0:12:45.740 There was no going back. Wasn't no such thing as 0:12:45.780 --> 0:12:46.540 too hot out there. 0:12:46.540 --> 0:12:49.981 I'm not going. You made yourself go. 0:12:51.261 --> 0:13:12.021 And so he went. Clarence wasn't a rice patty in 0:13:12.060 --> 0:13:16.420 the Meacong delta, wet and covered in mud, listening as 0:13:16.460 --> 0:13:19.340 the bullets zip by him and his men cried out 0:13:19.381 --> 0:13:22.861 for help. The first thing he figured out was he 0:13:22.940 --> 0:13:23.901 had to stay down. 0:13:25.221 --> 0:13:28.941 I had learned early on that the best way to 0:13:29.060 --> 0:13:32.701 get around that day was just simply grabbing the rice 0:13:32.741 --> 0:13:35.780 sprouts and sliding yourself alone. You could move better like 0:13:35.861 --> 0:13:39.221 that than to try to, of course, stand up. 0:13:39.261 --> 0:13:40.780 If he stood up, you were dead. 0:13:43.741 --> 0:13:46.460 Clarence was overwhelmed by the sight of so much death, 0:13:47.221 --> 0:13:52.500 and he realized that the enemy snipers were specifically targeting medics. 0:13:53.141 --> 0:13:56.420 They would get you, especially they see you bagged. 0:13:56.460 --> 0:13:59.461 They know you're a medic. You know you kill a medic. 0:13:59.540 --> 0:14:03.021 A lot of people probably would die. It was it 0:14:03.101 --> 0:14:03.780 was the rational. 0:14:03.820 --> 0:14:07.941 Now his leg was wounded, but that wasn't his main problem. 0:14:08.660 --> 0:14:11.500 The bigger issue. Clarence was suppose to be one of 0:14:11.660 --> 0:14:15.180 four company medics on the scene. Where were the other three? 0:14:15.901 --> 0:14:18.700 I guess, to make a long story short, I was 0:14:18.700 --> 0:14:22.301 the only medic that lived. The mortals were coming in, 0:14:22.501 --> 0:14:27.421 Snipers were around, guys were yelling dop top. 0:14:29.141 --> 0:14:32.541 The lower half of each man was underwater or mud. 0:14:32.661 --> 0:14:36.181 This left their upper bodies exposed to the snipers. So 0:14:36.301 --> 0:14:39.301 Clarence was tending to chest wounds and had in face 0:14:39.341 --> 0:14:44.501 injuries plus injuries from shrapnel. Those were particularly nasty and 0:14:44.701 --> 0:14:48.621 almost impossible for him to treat, but he kept moving forward, 0:14:48.941 --> 0:14:52.381 pulling himself through the rice patty to each wounded man. 0:14:53.141 --> 0:14:54.341 I'm not going to sit here. 0:14:54.221 --> 0:14:58.221 And say I wasn't afraid. You know, of course you 0:14:58.341 --> 0:15:05.381 were afraid. You were afraid of getting killed. But these 0:15:05.421 --> 0:15:08.580 were my guys. Your job was to look out for 0:15:08.621 --> 0:15:12.740 them when they called, when they hollered, medic or do. 0:15:13.460 --> 0:15:18.541 The job was to go nothing more without fear of 0:15:18.580 --> 0:15:20.860 your life. It was your job. 0:15:22.381 --> 0:15:25.181 At one point, Clarence hurt a soldier from his platoon, 0:15:25.261 --> 0:15:30.340 screaming bloody murder, so he dragged himself towards him. This 0:15:30.460 --> 0:15:33.821 guy was big five eleven two and ten pounds and 0:15:34.021 --> 0:15:38.021 freaking out. But when Clarence got there, he realized that 0:15:38.061 --> 0:15:40.701 a piece of shrapnel had just nicked the skin off 0:15:40.741 --> 0:15:43.860 of this guy's finger. He was paralyzed by the sight 0:15:43.941 --> 0:15:46.580 of blood. Clarence put a band aid on his finger 0:15:46.981 --> 0:15:47.581 and gave him. 0:15:47.501 --> 0:15:51.621 A pep talk after I had finished putting the band intomn, man, 0:15:51.741 --> 0:15:54.261 take your weapon, take your weapon. 0:15:54.381 --> 0:15:55.821 Let's try to get out of here. 0:15:57.101 --> 0:16:00.181 As the day dragged on, the shots kept coming, and 0:16:00.221 --> 0:16:03.461 there was a new problem. Because Clarence was in the 0:16:03.541 --> 0:16:07.860 backup company, they weren't really supposed to be engaged in battle, 0:16:08.901 --> 0:16:11.701 so he just had his basic medic bag, not a 0:16:11.741 --> 0:16:16.340 combat pack with extra supplies. After a few hours, that 0:16:16.421 --> 0:16:20.821 bag was empty, and Clarence, the only surviving medic, could 0:16:20.861 --> 0:16:23.981 give his men almost nothing but emotional support. 0:16:25.181 --> 0:16:29.781 So anyway, here, I'm just pulling myself around and everything. Yeah, 0:16:30.101 --> 0:16:36.061 going to guys and doing the best I could. Anyway, 0:16:36.181 --> 0:16:39.021 doing the best I could. That's how anyone could ask. 0:16:42.580 --> 0:16:44.741 Clarence and the others kept trying to get to the 0:16:44.741 --> 0:16:47.580 tree line, where they would have a little shelter. They 0:16:47.621 --> 0:16:50.341 stopped along the dikes of the Rice patty, since those 0:16:50.460 --> 0:16:52.901 also gave some cover from the mortar shells. 0:16:54.061 --> 0:16:56.621 Man, you could hear them all day bore. They'd come 0:16:56.661 --> 0:17:00.301 in boom, and then you hear it. Well, it's just 0:17:00.341 --> 0:17:02.701 shooting into the water. When it hit the water, you 0:17:02.781 --> 0:17:03.860 hear it just sile. 0:17:03.981 --> 0:17:04.181 Man. 0:17:05.941 --> 0:17:09.141 Then three mortar rounds landed no more than six feet 0:17:09.181 --> 0:17:12.661 eight at the most from Clarence. They sprayed his back 0:17:12.661 --> 0:17:14.100 and left side with shrapnel. 0:17:14.901 --> 0:17:19.021 Shell fragments are something I'll never forget how they feel. 0:17:19.981 --> 0:17:23.381 It's almost no pain. The pain sets in later. 0:17:24.461 --> 0:17:29.861 The initial shock is what you experience, and the searing 0:17:29.901 --> 0:17:32.061 because of course the shell fragments are hot. 0:17:33.141 --> 0:17:36.701 He lay there a while, finally coming back to consciousness, 0:17:37.261 --> 0:17:40.901 feeling the incredible pain and becoming alert again to the 0:17:40.941 --> 0:17:45.861 struggle around him. The day shifted from bright sunlight to 0:17:45.941 --> 0:17:49.421 late afternoon. Clarence was on his side, lying against the 0:17:49.501 --> 0:17:53.381 dike next to a buddy. Suddenly he realized that the 0:17:53.421 --> 0:17:57.981 sound of shooting and mortar shells had gone quiet, so 0:17:58.021 --> 0:18:01.141 he raised up his head to peek out. The moment 0:18:01.261 --> 0:18:04.181 he did, he heard the report of a rifle and 0:18:04.261 --> 0:18:06.501 he felt the impact of a bullet to his skull. 0:18:07.501 --> 0:18:11.821 Clarence grabbed his head and fell to the ground. He 0:18:11.901 --> 0:18:14.221 wasn't wearing his helmet because he had lost it at 0:18:14.221 --> 0:18:19.541 some point during the battle. Unbelievably, the bullet hadn't killed 0:18:19.581 --> 0:18:24.261 him somehow, it had only given him a serious concussion. 0:18:26.661 --> 0:18:31.621 As night fell, American gunships darted overhead, dropping explosives on 0:18:31.661 --> 0:18:35.261 the enemy. They flew so close to the ground that 0:18:35.381 --> 0:18:38.061 Clarence was worried they'd be hit by the explosions from 0:18:38.061 --> 0:18:41.981 their own bombs, but they kept the enemy occupied and 0:18:42.021 --> 0:18:46.101 the men on the ground safe. By then, Clarence and 0:18:46.141 --> 0:18:49.541 the rest of the survivors had managed to reach the woodline. 0:18:49.741 --> 0:18:54.821 Wounded troops were everywhere. For Clarence, the darkness brought the 0:18:54.861 --> 0:18:57.541 worst moments of awe. 0:18:57.661 --> 0:19:01.901 It wasn't so much the enemy activity men. It was 0:19:02.061 --> 0:19:05.381 laying that listening to you. Guys called for their marble. 0:19:07.341 --> 0:19:10.661 You can't do anything. It was tough. 0:19:12.581 --> 0:19:13.861 It wasn't so much. 0:19:14.621 --> 0:19:17.981 Enemy activity or shots or things of that nature. 0:19:18.061 --> 0:19:18.421 It was. 0:19:20.021 --> 0:19:23.941 I was just listening to him big all night, and 0:19:23.981 --> 0:19:25.421 then you wouldn't hear him anymore. 0:19:25.541 --> 0:19:26.501 You know, he died. 0:19:31.341 --> 0:19:33.301 It's tough. It's toughest think. 0:19:37.301 --> 0:19:40.381 The Metavac helicopters began arriving at about four point thirty 0:19:40.421 --> 0:19:44.021 that morning. They got the most seriously injured out first. 0:19:45.101 --> 0:19:47.741 Even with all of his wounds, Clarence was one of 0:19:47.741 --> 0:19:48.621 the last to leave. 0:19:49.541 --> 0:19:52.461 It was a relief, of course, a relief when we 0:19:52.461 --> 0:19:55.021 were out of there and I was still alive. I 0:19:55.061 --> 0:19:59.221 was hurt, but I wasn't I wasn't immortal danger. 0:19:59.501 --> 0:20:02.861 I was hurt. I knew me. I knew I would heal, 0:20:02.941 --> 0:20:04.661 and I would heal fairly quickly. 0:20:06.061 --> 0:20:10.941 I had made it, man, I had made it. 0:20:11.541 --> 0:20:14.261 But what he had seen would haunt him, and he 0:20:14.301 --> 0:20:23.261 would spend decades trying to bury it. After the battle 0:20:23.261 --> 0:20:26.101 in the Rice Patty, Clarence was flown to a hospital 0:20:26.141 --> 0:20:29.340 in Japan. From there he went to a medical holding 0:20:29.381 --> 0:20:30.381 company for rehab. 0:20:31.661 --> 0:20:33.821 So, being a medic, I started hanging out at the 0:20:33.901 --> 0:20:39.941 dispensary during my off time. So and understanding doctor needed 0:20:39.981 --> 0:20:44.301 another medic, and he got me real signed there. So 0:20:44.421 --> 0:20:46.661 I didn't go back, or I would have gone back 0:20:46.701 --> 0:20:49.901 to my unit in Vietnam, which I to this day, 0:20:49.941 --> 0:20:50.501 I thank you. 0:20:51.741 --> 0:20:56.061 Clarence would never go back to Vietnam. Instead, he got 0:20:56.101 --> 0:20:57.301 different news. 0:20:57.621 --> 0:21:02.381 The command in general wants to see me. What what 0:21:02.461 --> 0:21:06.701 did I do. I haven't done any day, Doc. He said, oh, 0:21:06.741 --> 0:21:08.861 you'll like it. It's all right, it's all right. 0:21:09.981 --> 0:21:14.861 All right, And that's an understatement. It was great. He 0:21:15.061 --> 0:21:18.501 was informed that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor. 0:21:20.141 --> 0:21:22.741 That was in the early fall of nineteen sixty eight, 0:21:23.061 --> 0:21:25.621 an election year, so the award would have to wait 0:21:25.661 --> 0:21:28.981 for the new president. After Richard Nixon took office in 0:21:29.061 --> 0:21:32.981 January of nineteen sixty nine, planning for the ceremony began. 0:21:33.701 --> 0:21:35.181 It was set for March seven. 0:21:36.061 --> 0:21:40.181 It was really experience from background, of course, you know, 0:21:40.341 --> 0:21:44.501 poor farm family, and every day my mother and sisters 0:21:44.541 --> 0:21:47.741 were flown up to DC. Of course, this was the best, 0:21:48.501 --> 0:21:52.141 the best thing that ever happened to him. 0:21:52.301 --> 0:21:55.181 Clarence was awarded the medal along with two other army men. 0:21:56.061 --> 0:21:57.621 Nixon gave the speech. 0:21:58.341 --> 0:22:04.661 They are magnificent men, magnificent in their idealism. Idealism is 0:22:04.741 --> 0:22:09.581 often shown by words, but they have demonstrated their idealism 0:22:09.581 --> 0:22:13.661 by their deeds. They have made us proud of being 0:22:13.701 --> 0:22:17.340 Americans and also reminded us that we should be proud 0:22:17.341 --> 0:22:20.021 of our younger generation, the youth of America. 0:22:21.101 --> 0:22:24.861 And Clarence was still so young. He was just twenty one. 0:22:24.901 --> 0:22:27.421 When he came back home to Texas and to a 0:22:27.461 --> 0:22:32.301 grateful community, there was sassurday. Of course, articles were written 0:22:32.301 --> 0:22:36.981 celebrating his bravery, with headlines like steel a valor forged 0:22:37.061 --> 0:22:41.101 and shabby home. He was given a scholarship to continue 0:22:41.101 --> 0:22:44.301 his college studies, this time at Texas A and M. 0:22:44.861 --> 0:22:48.421 But it wasn't that simple. You see this with so 0:22:48.541 --> 0:22:54.421 many events after a traumatic experience, I've lived it, Clarence 0:22:54.421 --> 0:22:57.341 couldn't just return to the future he had planned. He 0:22:57.461 --> 0:23:00.661 thought about death all the time. He dropped out of 0:23:00.701 --> 0:23:03.701 Texas A and M after a year. He just wasn't 0:23:03.741 --> 0:23:06.941 ready for it. He still felt like he was fighting 0:23:06.981 --> 0:23:10.021 for his life. And while he was proud of his medal, 0:23:11.141 --> 0:23:13.501 like the attention, I don't. 0:23:13.341 --> 0:23:17.661 Think what idea was above and beyond. I never have 0:23:18.221 --> 0:23:20.381 and for a long time I had a problem with that. 0:23:21.181 --> 0:23:22.501 I have a problem with why. 0:23:22.421 --> 0:23:22.741 All of this. 0:23:22.941 --> 0:23:26.221 I just did my job. My job was to take 0:23:26.261 --> 0:23:27.821 care of my guys. That's it. 0:23:29.741 --> 0:23:32.821 We've heard that so many times in this series, guys 0:23:32.861 --> 0:23:36.781 who say I was just doing my job. But Clarence 0:23:36.901 --> 0:23:39.580 was honest about a different aspect of the medal of honor, 0:23:40.421 --> 0:23:42.861 one that fewer recipients talk about. 0:23:44.581 --> 0:23:48.860 It's easy to strap it on, but it's a heavy 0:23:48.981 --> 0:23:56.901 something to wear. It requires certain things of you. It 0:23:57.341 --> 0:24:01.181 forces you to go to straight and narrow. I mean, 0:24:01.221 --> 0:24:04.381 you know, I'm gonna be in the newspaper Malevanna recipient 0:24:04.501 --> 0:24:09.461 robs a bank. It sort of makes you live up 0:24:09.501 --> 0:24:11.981 to it. And that's not a bad thing. 0:24:13.221 --> 0:24:17.061 Yeah, not a bad thing. But there was something hard 0:24:17.101 --> 0:24:21.141 about all the attention. It dredges up memories, and these 0:24:21.181 --> 0:24:25.461 are memories that are that you deal with belly if 0:24:25.501 --> 0:24:31.141 they're not on the forefront of the old mind. Clarence 0:24:31.181 --> 0:24:33.861 had always wondered why his father would never talk about 0:24:33.901 --> 0:24:50.581 his war. Now he understood. Two years after he returned 0:24:50.621 --> 0:24:55.181 from Vietnam, Clarence Sasser married Ethel Morrin, a brown eyed 0:24:55.221 --> 0:25:00.501 beauty with an incredible smile. They raised three sons, Ross, Benjamin, 0:25:00.741 --> 0:25:04.100 and Billy. The family lived close to where Clarence had 0:25:04.101 --> 0:25:07.821 grown up. He found work at chemical plants. He was 0:25:07.861 --> 0:25:11.261 patriotic and proud of his service. He kept a flag 0:25:11.301 --> 0:25:13.621 in front of his house that he raised and lowered 0:25:13.741 --> 0:25:18.821 every day, but he avoided actually talking about what had 0:25:18.821 --> 0:25:21.901 happened in Vietnam. Even after he took a job with 0:25:21.941 --> 0:25:27.541 the Veterans Administration, and then in nineteen ninety six, a 0:25:27.661 --> 0:25:31.581 though was killed by a drunk driver. By that point, 0:25:31.621 --> 0:25:35.021 the couple had been married twenty five years. Clarence was 0:25:35.141 --> 0:25:40.181 just forty nine. His world was shattered. In the aftermath, 0:25:40.461 --> 0:25:44.261 something changed. He finally began to really talk about what 0:25:44.381 --> 0:25:47.101 had happened to him in Vietnam. It was a way 0:25:47.141 --> 0:25:50.061 to distract himself from his grief, and he knew it 0:25:50.101 --> 0:25:52.941 was important for another reason. It was a way to 0:25:53.061 --> 0:25:58.661