Officially, retired Army Capt. Gary “Mike” Rose was never in Laos at the height of the Vietnam War.

Rose, now 69, served as a medic in the Military Assistance Command Studies and Observations Group, an elite division of the Special Forces. It was so secret that, for more than four decades, he never spoke about it to anyone – not even the people he served with.

Those that served with him, however, never forgot the bravery he showed during a four-day mission, called “Operation Tailwind,” in the landlocked country in September 1970.

Rose, then a sergeant, ran through a hail of gunfire to treat more than 50 soldiers who were fighting the North Vietnamese Army – using one hand to hoist wounded men onto his back while he fired on the enemy with his other hand.

In spite of his own injuries, he didn’t sleep for days to make sure all 16 American soldiers deployed with him made it home.

They did.

Forty-seven years later, his heroism will finally be commemorated on Monday when he receives the Medal of Honor during a special ceremony with President Trump at the White House.

“This medal and the presidential citation, it honors what the [Vietnam-era veteran] had done,” Rose told reporters on Friday. “They were asked to do a very difficult thing and they did it. They fought hard and, unfortunately, many didn’t make it back. This honors them. We stand up for them and are a focal point in that honor.”

Rose enlisted in April 1967 at the urging of his father – to avoid getting drafted by the Navy or the Marine Corps. In 1968, he graduated as a Special Forces medic and was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group before being reassigned to the 46th Special Forces Company headquartered in Thailand a year later.

It was there, in April 1970, that Rose was assigned to the Military Assistance Command Studies and Observations Group. The unit’s real purpose was to join forces with local fighters to attack North Vietnamese forces in Laos – officially off limits for combat, USA Today reported.

On Sept. 11, 1970, the unit – comprised of Americans, Vietnamese and indigenous paramilitary Montagnard personnel – were sent deep into enemy territory. As soon as they made contact, two Americans and two Montagnards were wounded, and Rose jumped into action.

The Army said the gunfire got so intense Rose had to crawl from position to position to treat the wounded.

“The actions that Mike performed during that operation, you can’t imagine it, you can’t put it into words,” said retired Lt. Col. Eugene McCarley, who was in charge of the unit, on Friday. “We were going into an area that U.S. forces had not been in….Had we not come out the day we were extracted, we probably would not have left.”

During the extraction of the troops, one of the helicopters crashed to the ground, injuring many on board and killing one.

Ignoring his own injuries – sustained earlier in the mission – Rose re-entered the destroyed helicopter to pull a solider to safety. McCarley said the soldier shouldn’t have survived, but did, thanks to Rose.

“I had the opportunity to meet with him [years later]…it had not affected him in any way,” he added. “Mike did a miraculous job.”

Despite the many who were wounded, only three men died during the four days of almost constant gunfire deep in enemy territory.

“My job was to focus on the individuals that were hurt,” he said on Friday. “When you focus, you don’t concern yourself on getting hurt or killed. You just have to do your job and keep going down the road.”

For his bravery, Rose earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor.

But what happened during those four days in Laos were never mentioned.

“When we left MAG SOC, the unit did not exist. If anyone asked me, I was going to be a mail clerk during the Vietnam War,” Rose said.

That is until 1998, when a report by CNN and Time magazine revealed Rose and the soldiers in Operation Tailwind were sent to Laos to capture American defectors and had used deadly Sarin nerve gas during the attack.

A Pentagon investigation dismissed the report, saying the mission focused on collecting intelligence on the logistics of the North Vietnamese army and destroying their supplies.

While the story of Rose’s valor has now led to a Medal of Honor, however, the covert operations by the U.S. in Laos are still obscured as somewhere “deep in enemy-controlled territory.”

McCarley said he was disappointed Rose had previously only received the Distinguished Service Cross, saying he deserved the top honor.

For more than 40 years, McCarley and others in the military and government fought to get the award upgraded.

Last year, Congress passed legislation authorizing the Medal of Honor for Rose, waiving the five-year time limit for the events that happened 47 years ago.

“I can’t think of an individual who deserves this more,” McCarley said. “I’m proud of him [and] because of my association with him, I feel like I am a better man.”

Rose, who will be joined by his wife, Margaret Rose, and their three children -- as well as 12 of the men who served with him in Laos -- on Monday, said he considers it a privilege to be part of the small group of service members who have received the Medal of Honor.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017...get-medal-honor.html

Darned screen seems to fog up almost every day anymore.

Good on you Capt. Rose, and the rest of us for caring.

I'm glad they had the decency to award Capt Rose the MoH while he is still alive, which is often not the case.

Amazing combat engagement.

----------------------------------------

quote:

Originally posted by Some Shot:
Darned screen seems to fog up almost every day anymore.

Good on you Capt. Rose, and the rest of us for caring.

quote:

....It was there, in April 1970, that Rose was assigned to the Military Assistance Command Studies and Observations Group. The unit’s real purpose was to join forces with local fighters to attack North Vietnamese forces in Laos...

Your screen is messed up in Wisconsin, I have the same problem in CA, some weird weather issue I imagine.

In April 1970 I was at Ft Sam in San Antonio training to be a combat medic. All of my training cadre had been Vietnam medics. I was a reservist, spent my reserve duty in hospitals. But all of the non reservists in my unit were assigned to Vietnam after the training at Ft Sam was completed.

When I was at Ft. Sam I used to go up to one of the main HQ buildings. Inside there was a large area that had the framed citations of all of the medics who had been awarded the CMH, most of them posthumously.

Reading all of those left me humbled and proud beyond belief. I remember hoping to God that I'd never find myself in similar circumstances and praying to God that if I did that I could live up to their example.

I'm glad they upgraded his DSC. It sounds like he more than deserved this..

I watched the ceremony today. I knew a former SF guy who was there in Operation Tailwind, but he passed away in 2014. His name was Bob Van Buskirk, and he wrote a book in 1983 titled "Tailwind". He was a Captain and gives a lot of details about the operation in the first half of his book; mainly how experiences there helped him later in life. He later became an Episcopalian minister, specializing in prison ministry. I have to find that book and see if Gary Rose is mentioned in it.