Roy Benavidez Six Hour Rescue

In 1968, in South Vietnam, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez heard a distress call from a 12-man Special Forces team surrounded by an estimated 1,000 North Vietnamese troops. Armed only with a knife and his medical bag when he jumped from a helicopter into the firefight, he spent the next six hours under heavy fire treating the wounded, organizing the defense, and dragging his comrades to evacuation helicopters. By the time rescuers pulled him out, he had suffered so many wounds that medics at the base assumed he was dead and placed him in a body bag. As a doctor prepared to zip it closed, Benavidez spat in his face to show he was still alive.

Previous Fact Next Fact