The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Branch Posts > Army

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-01-2019, 09:44 AM
Boats's Avatar
Boats Boats is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sauk Village, IL
Posts: 21,783
Thumbs up He received a Medal of Honor, 2 Silver Stars, 6 Bronze Stars, and 8 Purple Hearts en

He received a Medal of Honor, 2 Silver Stars, 6 Bronze Stars, and 8 Purple Hearts en route to 115 confirmed kills
By: J.D. Simkins - Military Culture/Military Times - 8-31-19
RE: https://www.militarytimes.com/off-du...nfirmed-kills/

Photo link: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/He...VISLDDBRQI.jpg

Joe Ronnie Hooper’s service record remains one of the more difficult to fathom combat resumes in United States military history.

Throughout the course of his Army career — one that came in the wake of a three-year Navy enlistment — the Piedmont, South Carolina, native who was raised in Washington state earned two Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars, and eight Purple Hearts, among an abundance of other accolades.

Principal among these recognitions is the Medal of Honor Hooper earned for Herculean efforts during the evening of February 21, 1968 — during the savage Battle of Hue — a day in which he would be credited with 22 confirmed kills.

Then-Staff Sgt. Hooper was on his second deployment to Vietnam when he was tasked with leading a squad from Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 101st Airborne Division in an assault of a heavily defended Viet Cong position on the bank of a 20-foot-wide stream.

2nd Photo link: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/-a...PV6NVY3EG4.jpg
A highly decorated Hooper prior to his retirement. (Army)
(Personal note: Damn if he don't look intense!)

Unfortunately for Hooper’s men, the enemy was ready, unleashing a steady response of small arms, machine gun fire, and rockets that pinned down the majority of the company.

Hooper and a few of his men, meanwhile, managed to avoid the enemy’s concentrated areas of fire just long enough to make a valiant push across the stream in the face of a series of hostile gun emplacements.

The display of fearlessness inspired the rest of the company to follow suit despite being greeted by waves of lead.

Inevitable friendly casualties mounted, prompting Hooper, now grasping the carnage being dispatched by the North Vietnamese defenses, to shift his focus to moving the wounded to safety.

Hooper himself was seriously wounded while retrieving one hobbling soldier, but would refuse medical attention.

Instead, he opted to turn back and resume the assault with renewed ferocity, charging three enemy bunkers that had been tormenting the advancing soldiers and, lobbing grenades and firing his rifle, destroyed each — along with the bunkers’ occupants.

Two more enemy combatants who had just shot an Army chaplain were then spotted by the vigilant staff sergeant.

Hooper promptly shot them both before moving the wounded chaplain to safety.

Gathering his men to sweep the rest of the area, Hooper spotted three more enemy emplacements, small buildings where riflemen were still peppering the advancing U.S. forces.

Meticulously attacking one after another, Staff Sgt. Hooper decimated the buildings.

Hooper had just finished destroying the last of the three sites when he encountered a North Vietnamese officer face-to-face.

“The officer’s rifle jammed and Sgt. Hooper was out of ammo as the enemy tried to escape," Lonnie Thomas, a soldier who served under Hooper, told the Department of Defense.

"But Sgt. Hooper chased him down and stabbed him with his bayonet.”

Hooper then turned his attention to a small house facing the front of the Delta Company assault, one that was causing them fits.

Storming the house alone, Staff Sgt. Hooper once more used a deadly combination of rifle fire and grenades to kill the shelter’s inhabitants.

Despite bleeding severely from multiple wounds, Hooper then reorganized his men into an assault formation, pushing them forward until reaching a staunch line of last-ditch resistance.

To the left flank of Hooper’s men was a daisy chain of four enemy bunkers that unleashed hell upon spotting the weary soldiers.

Once more, however, the bloody, shrapnel-filled Hooper waited for no one, sprinting along the enemy line and dropping grenades into each bunker, an image reminiscent of Jim Brown in the “The Dirty Dozen.”

All but two of the enemy fighters were killed. Scanning the area, Hooper located two more bunkers, which he quickly destroyed.

A brief pause in the fight allowed Hooper to spot a wounded soldier laying in a nearby trench line.

Out of ammunition, he sprinted across open terrain to retrieve his comrade.

“I called to him and tossed him a .45-caliber pistol, mentioning that he might need it," Thomas told the Department of Defense.

“No sooner had he caught it and turned than he came face to face with an NVA raising a rifle to Sgt. Hooper’s head. Sgt. Hooper calmly shot the man dead with the pistol, then carried the wounded man back to safety.”

And yet, Hooper was still not done, finding and shooting three more NVA officers before getting his men to establish a line of defense.

Only then did he finally acquiesce to receiving medical treatment. He refused to be evacuated, however, until the following day.

Seven hours had passed since the fight of his life began — an eternity.

“Sgt. Hooper in one day accomplished more than I previously believed could have been done in a month by one man, and he did it all while wounded," Sgt. George Parker, who served with Hooper, said in a DoD release.

"It wasn’t just the actual count of positions overrun and enemy killed which was important. But far more so was the fantastic inspiration he gave every man in the company.”

Hooper, who was credited by the Army with 115 confirmed kills, was presented the Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon on March 7, 1969.

He would be commissioned as an officer before retiring from the military in 1974. Tragically, he would pass away at the young age of 40 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.

Joe Ronnie Hooper is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link showing his full Medal of Honor citation: https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/1691

Medal of Honor
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS
DURING Vietnam War
Service: Army
Battalion: 2d Battalion (Airborne)
Division: 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile)
GENERAL ORDERS:
Department of the Army, General Orders No. 24 (April 17, 1969)

CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant [then Sergeant] Joe Ronnie Hooper (ASN: RA-19670872), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 2d Battalion (Airborne), 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), in action against enemy aggressor forces at Hue, Republic of Vietnam, on 21 February 1968. Staff Sergeant Hooper, U.S. Army, distinguished himself while serving as squad leader with Company D. Company D was assaulting a heavily defended enemy position along a river bank when it encountered a withering hail of fire from rockets, machineguns and automatic weapons. Staff Sergeant Hooper rallied several men and stormed across the river, overrunning several bunkers on the opposite shore. Thus inspired, the rest of the company moved to the attack. With utter disregard for his own safety, he moved out under the intense fire again and pulled back the wounded, moving them to safety. During this act Staff Sergeant Hooper was seriously wounded, but he refused medical aid and returned to his men. With the relentless enemy fire disrupting the attack, he single-handedly stormed three enemy bunkers, destroying them with hand grenade and rifle fire, and shot two enemy soldiers who had attacked and wounded the Chaplain. Leading his men forward in a sweep of the area, Staff Sergeant Hooper destroyed three buildings housing enemy riflemen. At this point he was attacked by a North Vietnamese officer whom he fatally wounded with his bayonet. Finding his men under heavy fire from a house to the front, he proceeded alone to the building, killing its occupants with rifle fire and grenades. By now his initial body wound had been compounded by grenade fragments, yet despite the multiple wounds and loss of blood, he continued to lead his men against the intense enemy fire. As his squad reached the final line of enemy resistance, it received devastating fire from four bunkers in line on its left flank. Staff Sergeant Hooper gathered several hand grenades and raced down a small trench which ran the length of the bunker line, tossing grenades into each bunker as he passed by, killing all but two of the occupants. With these positions destroyed, he concentrated on the last bunkers facing his men, destroying the first with an incendiary grenade and neutralizing two more by rifle fire. He then raced across an open field, still under enemy fire, to rescue a wounded man who was trapped in a trench. Upon reaching the man, he was faced by an armed enemy soldier whom he killed with a pistol. Moving his comrade to safety and returning to his men, he neutralized the final pocket of enemy resistance by fatally wounding three North Vietnamese officers with rifle fire. Staff Sergeant Hooper then established a final line and reorganized his men, not accepting treatment until this was accomplished and not consenting to evacuation until the following morning. His supreme valor, inspiring leadership and heroic self-sacrifice were directly responsible for the company's success and provided a lasting example in personal courage for every man on the field. Staff Sergeant Hooper's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:35 AM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.