U.S Army Benavidez enlisted in the
Texas Army National Guard in 1952 during the
Korean War. In June 1955, he switched from the Army National Guard to Army active duty. In 1959, he married Hilaria "Lala" Coy, completed Airborne training, and was assigned to the
82nd Airborne Division at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Army Special Forces Benavidez returned to Fort Bragg and began training for the elite
Army Special Forces. Once qualified and accepted, he became a member of the
5th Special Forces Group; and the
Studies and Observations Group (SOG).
Vietnam In 1965, he was sent to
South Vietnam as a Special Forces advisor to an
Army of the Republic of Vietnam infantry regiment. During his tour of duty, he went on a solo reconnaissance mission to gather Intel on the enemy troops. It was at this moment that he stepped on a
land mine during a patrol and was evacuated to the United States. Doctors at
Fort Sam Houston concluded he would never walk again and began preparing his
medical discharge papers. As Benavidez noted in his MOH acceptance speech in 1981, stung by the diagnosis, as well as
flag burnings and media criticism of the US military presence in Vietnam he saw on TV, he began an unsanctioned nightly training ritual in an attempt to redevelop his ability to walk. Getting out of bed at night (against doctors' orders), Benavidez would crawl using his elbows and chin to a wall near his bedside and (with the encouragement of his fellow patients, many of whom were permanently paralyzed and/or
missing limbs) he would prop himself against the wall and attempt to lift himself unaided, starting by wiggling his toes, then his feet, and then eventually (after several months of excruciating practice that, by his own admission, often left him in tears) pushing himself up the wall with his ankles and legs. After over a year of hospitalization, Benavidez walked out of the hospital in July 1966, with his wife at his side, determined to return to combat in Vietnam. Despite continuing pain from his wounds, he returned to South Vietnam in January 1968.
"Six Hours in Hell" On May 2, 1968, a 12-man Special Forces patrol, which included nine
Montagnard tribesmen, was surrounded by an
NVA infantry battalion of about 1,000 men. Benavidez heard the radio appeal for help and boarded a helicopter to respond. Armed only with a knife, he jumped from the helicopter which was 30-40 ft off the ground, carrying his medical bag and ran to help the trapped patrol. Benavidez "distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions... and because of his gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men." At one point in the battle an NVA soldier accosted him and stabbed him with his bayonet. Benavidez pulled it out, drew his own knife, killed him and kept going, leaving his knife in the NVA soldier's body. He later killed two more NVA soldiers with an AK-47 while providing cover fire for the people boarding the helicopter. After the battle, he was evacuated to the base camp, examined, and thought to be dead. As he was placed in a body bag among the other dead in body bags, he was suddenly recognized by a friend who called for help. A doctor came and examined him but believed Benavidez was dead. The doctor was about to zip up the body bag when Benavidez managed to spit in his face to show that he was alive. Benavidez had a total of 37 separate bullet,
bayonet, and shrapnel wounds from the six-hour fight with the enemy
battalion. Benavidez was evacuated once again to Fort Sam Houston's Brooke Army Medical Center, where he eventually recovered. He received the
Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism and four Purple Hearts. In 1969, he was assigned to
Fort Riley, Kansas. In 1972, he was assigned to
Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he remained until retirement. ==Medal of Honor==