JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — On May 24, 1969, near the village of Long Sau, A Lonc Province in the Republic of Korea, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Leroy Bondsteel, a platoon sergeant assigned to Company A, 2d Battalion, 2d Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, assembled the Soldiers of his platoon into effective combat teams. Company A had been assigned to assist a unit endangered by a North Vietnamese battalion in a well-equipped base camp.

Bondsteel launched the attack, destroying and occupying enemy bunkers. During the attack, he was wounded by an enemy grenade, but refused medical attention. He continued the attack on the enemy and neutralized two more bunkers.

While wounded, he continued to gather his men and guided them through enemy territory until his company was relieved. Bondsteel’s bravery destroyed 10 enemy bunkers and two key enemy commanders that day, and took a large toll on the enemy.

Former U.S. President Richard Nixon awarded Bondsteel a Medal of Honor, the highest military award for valor, for his heroic action and bravery in the Vietnam War, Oct. 15, 1973 at the White House in Washington D.C.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense website, “U.S. service members who distinguish themselves ‘through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty’ can receive” the Medal of Honor.

Every year on March 25, recognized as National Medal of Honor Day, we honor and remember those who have earned this high achievement. More than 3,500 men and one woman received this special award for their outstanding actions and heroic sacrifices made during their service.

Bondsteel retired from the U.S. Army in 1985 as a master sergeant, where he was asked to be a counselor at the Veterans’ Administration in Anchorage. He then settled in a small town near Anchorage called Houston, with his wife, Elaine, and two daughters.

Bondsteel died April 9, 1987, in a motorcycling accident on the Glenn Highway in Wasilla, Alaska, and was laid to rest at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery here.