“Rose is credited with treating 60-70 wounded personnel and saving many lives.”
On October 23, Captain Gary M. Rose, USA (Ret) will travel to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump, who will put the Medal of Honor around his neck. Rose said it’s the opportunity of a lifetime for him. “I am going to have the privilege of being able to meet the president of the United States with my dear wife in the Oval Office,” Rose said. “And that is something I will treasure until the end of my days.”
Ever since the Vietnam War ended, neither the United States nor the US Army have openly discussed operations in Laos. As a result, many soldiers who might have been due the Medal of Honor went without recognition. Rose said he feels like the medal he’ll receive is meant to recognize all those other soldiers who are today unknown to the rest of America. That is why he’s adamant about sharing the medal with them all—about 2,000 other soldiers, in his estimation—who served in the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACSOG) between 1965 and 1973.
I am going to have the privilege of being able to meet the president of the United States with my dear wife in the Oval Office,” Rose said. “And that is something I will treasure until the end of my days
“That medal and the presidential unit citation recognizes, finally, the service of all the men in all those years that served in MACSOG,” he said. “It’s a collective medal from my perspective. All the courage and honor and dedication to duty of those men who served. They went for 30 years not even being acknowledged.”
Operation Tailwind, September 11-14, 1970; Chavane, Laos
Sgt. Rose arrived in Vietnam in April 1970, when he first reported to MACSOG, 5th Special Forces Group. While his actions on that first mission in Laos would earn him a Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor, it would be his second trip to Laos in September 1970, during “Operation Tailwind,” where his actions as a soldier and combat medic would earn him the recognition of the entire nation.
In Vietnam, and as part of MACSOG, Rose was one of many combat medics assigned as part of a dispensary system. He and the other medics, about ten in all, were regularly tapped to go on operational missions with MACSOG units.
For the September 11, 1970 mission, Rose was selected to participate as the medic on what would be his second trip into Laos.
Once on the ground, the operation moved deep into enemy territory. The company soon made contact with an enemy squad, wounding two Americans and two Montagnards. One of the wounded was trapped outside the company defensive perimeter. Rose, engaging the enemy, rushed to get the wounded soldier. Rose gave the man medical treatment and carried him through heavy gunfire back to the company defensive area.
The mission continued deeper into enemy territory, engaged more enemy forces, and took more casualties. Rose moved through enemy fire, saving lives and giving medical treatment to the mounting numbers of wounded. He had to personally engage the enemy in order to get to the wounded men, crawling from position to position to treat the injured.
Wounded in Action
Rose received the most severe of many wounds on the second day of the mission, but his injuries did not slow his determination to save the soldiers. During an assault by a company-sized element of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), one of the Montagnards was wounded 40 to 50 meters outside the company area. Rose ran, crawled, and maneuvered his way to this wounded man. Shielding the soldier with his own body, Rose dragged him back to the company with one hand while holding back and engaging the enemy with his weapon in the other.
While making his way back to the perimeter, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded nearby, spraying Rose with shrapnel in his back and leg and severely wounding his foot.
“That night I took my boot off and I slipped a finger into my foot. I pulled it back out and I thought, well, I’ll deal with that later. So, I put my sock and boot back on and didn’t think about it for another two days. When you’re worried about your ass, a hole in your foot doesn’t even make the list.”
Medevac
The company had taken so many wounded that a medevac helicopter was called. The helicopter was unable to land in the small opening where the company sought cover, and Rose, standing and fully exposed, attempted to pass the wounded up to the crew on the hovering helicopter. The helicopter was taking so much enemy fire that the pilot aborted the mission, and the severely damaged helicopter crashed a few miles away.
On the last night of the mission, the company was surrounded. Rose worked tirelessly to dig trenches for the wounded and treat their injuries. The NVA bombarded the company all night with rockets, grenades, and mortars. Throughout the night, Rose constantly moved from position to position, encouraging the soldiers and treating the numerous wounded.
Time to Go
On the last day of the mission, the company was notified by the forward air controller that over 500 NVA were moving on their position. The company was ordered to a helicopter extraction point as Air Force assets cleared their path, guiding the company to the next landing zone. Once a perimeter around the landing zone was established, each platoon would begin loading on the incoming helicopters. The landing zone was under enemy attack from 360 degrees.
The NVA’s attack on the landing zone caused even more casualties. Rose moved under intense enemy fire to retrieve the dead and wounded and return them to the company defensive perimeter.
With the arrival of the extraction helicopters, Rose returned to the outer defensive perimeter to engage the enemy and repel the continued and determined assault. Rose boarded the last extraction helicopter while delivering accurate aimed fire on the enemy as he hobbled up to the loading ramp. The NVA were now overrunning the vacated landing zone. They were only 50 meters from the aircraft.
Despite the many wounded, only three men died during the four days of almost constant contact with a superior enemy force deep in enemy territory
Shortly after the helicopter lifted off, it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft rounds. At about 4,500 feet in the air, Rose heard the engines go silent. Rose was alerted that a Marine door gunner on the helicopter had been shot with an enemy round through his neck, and Rose rushed to his aid. The helicopter crashed several kilometers away from the initial extraction point. Rose was thrown from the helicopter just before the point of impact.
With the soldiers on board wounded from the crash and the helicopter smoking and leaking fuel, Rose crawled back into the downed helicopter to pull his wounded and unconscious teammates from the wreckage. He continued medical treatment to the injured personnel until another helicopter arrived on the scene to extract the men.
Despite the many wounded, only three men died during the four days of almost constant contact with a superior enemy force deep in enemy territory. Rose is credited with treating 60-70 wounded personnel and saving many lives.
Continued Service
In August 1973, Rose was selected to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in field artillery in December 1973 and attended Field Artillery Officer Basic at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In 1978, Rose attended the Field Artillery Officer Advanced Course followed by various field artillery assignments in Germany, New Mexico, Korea, and Fort Sill. Captain Rose retired from the US Army in May 1987.
Rose’s military awards include the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster and “V” device, Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal with two knots, National Defense Medal, Vietnam Campaign with star, Presidential Unit Citation (MACSOG), Vietnam Civic Action Honor Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry Unit Citation – with Palm Combat Medical Badge, Special Forces Tab, US Army Parachute Badge, Thai Army Parachute Badge, Vietnam Parachute Badge, and several service ribbons.
Now he will add one more to the list: the Congressional Medal of Honor.
