The camp was named after 1st Lt. Frank Reasoner, the second Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during the war, and was marked by a stone that bore a hand-lettered message to the fallen Marine.

“’First Lieutenant Reasoner sacrificed his life to save one of his wounded Marines. ‘Greater Love Hath No Man,’” the stone said, according to the Marine Corps University.

On Monday 12 Marine veterans and members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling on him to begin negotiations with Vietnam to have the stone sent to the U.S. where the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion will host it on Camp Pendleton, California.

On July 12, 1965, Reasoner led 18 Marines with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion on a patrol near Da Nang, Vietnam, when they ran into a large force of Viet Cong fighters.

As the 50–100 Viet Cong fighters opened fire on the Marines from “numerous concealed positions,” Reasoner organized a defense, his Medal of Honor citation said.

“Repeatedly exposing himself to the devastating attack he skillfully provided covering fire, killing at least two Viet Cong and effectively silencing an automatic weapons position in a valiant attempt to effect evacuation of a wounded man,” the citation read.

“First Lieutenant Reasoner is an American hero whose story deserves to be told for generations to come,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, said in an emailed statement Monday. “Retrieving this memorial is a way to not only honor his legacy, but to show our undying appreciation to those who served at Camp Reasoner.”

The old camp, located roughly three miles from the Da Nang International Airport, is now a stone quarry, but the stone sign still stands at the old entrance.

“The hand-lettered stone and concrete sign served as a physical symbol of fallen comrades in arms to all those who entered the camp,” the letter signed by all 12 Marine veterans currently serving in the House of Representatives said.

“As our nation continues its commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, the time is right to bring this important part of Marine Corps history home and help provide closure for the thousands of Marines and Corpsman who served at Camp Reasoner throughout the war,” the letter reads.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, called bringing the sign to the U.S., “a striking and tangible memorial to a proud but difficult chapter of Marine history — our service in Vietnam, now almost half a century in the past.”

“By bringing the sign home, I would hope that Marine veterans would be comforted by the return of an iconic symbol of their service and that active duty Marines would become more aware of the service and sacrifice of their predecessors in the Corps,” Gallego added in an email.

The 1st Recon Battalion Association is willing to pay for any of the expenses associated with the move and hopes the sign will be placed on Camp Pendleton as a memorial to “Lt. Reasoner and the five other Reconnaissance Marines awarded the Medal of Honor during the war,” including Lance Cpl. Richard A. Anderson, 2nd Lt Terrence C. Graves, Gunnery Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard, Pfc. Robert H. Jenkins Jr., and Pfc. Ralph H. Johnson, along with all those who served at the base, the letter said.

The battalion was doing everything it could to see the stone sign sent to the unit, 1st Lt. Cameron Edinburgh, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division confirmed.

“If you were a reconnaissance Marine and you served in Vietnam, at one time or another you set foot in Camp Reasoner,” Ed Nevgloski, director of the Marine Corps history division, told Marine Corps Times.

It is “just a Marine thing” to bring back important historical items in a unit’s history, he added.

“The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion has demonstrated unwavering commitment to getting this sign home, and after learning about their effort, who better to help them complete the mission than the Marines serving in the House,” Gallagher said.

“My colleagues and I stand ready to assist Secretary Pompeo in this diplomatic mission and ensure Vietnam veterans get the long overdue recognition they deserve,” he added.

Now, a bipartisan group of senators has submitted a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to once again push to add the names of the “Lost 74” — the sailors killed on board the Evans — to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

A dispute over the ability to add the names due to limited space has pitted supporters against the federal government for years.

Last week, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., sent the letter to the secretary detailing how the sailors died in service to the country but have been denied their rightful place on the memorial.

“While the incident occurred approximately 100 miles outside of the official combat zone, the ship and a majority of the deceased sailors had previously provided naval gunfire off the coast of Vietnam, including during the Tet Offensive,” the letter states.

“74 U.S. Navy Sailors, including two Granite Staters, who conducted and supported operations during the Vietnam War gave their lives in service to our nation, but their valor goes unrecognized on the Vietnam Memorial because of an invisible line on a map – that’s unacceptable,” Shaheen’s office said in a statement to Military Times.

Steve Kraus, a former second class signalman, was on the bridge of the Evans at the time of the collision. Kraus, who serves as the president of the USS Frank E. Evans Association, began advocating for the additions with the other 198 survivors after families of the deceased realized their loved one’s names were not included on the completed memorial.

Various elected officials over the past two decades have introduced bills or amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Act to add the names, but their efforts have fallen short each time.

Kraus said the families and the association have made numerous concessions over the years, such as understanding the sailors will not be grouped together and even allowing only their first initials and last names. He said the Pentagon’s concerns over chronological order and insufficient blank spaces are unfounded or inaccurate.

“My frustration is it seems like we go through the same process, and we continue to get the same result,” Kraus told Military Times. “It seems like we move closer and closer to the final result, then to be at the last minute pushed back.”

“We are probably more adamant now then we have ever been that this is what needs to be done. [These sailors] died in defense of their country, died in the Vietnam War,” Kraus added. “The more they push back, the more we keep pushing because that’s where the guys deserve to be.”

Early last year, Sen. Cramer introduced S 849, the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans Act, the latest legislative effort to compel the Pentagon to add the names. Despite bipartisan support from members like Sen. Shaheen, the bill has lagged in committee.

In a June 2019 Congressional testimony, Daniel Smith, deputy director of the National Park Service, referenced a previous letter to the Interior Department from the Pentagon, where the department “declined to grant the exception” to the Evans incident, as the ship was operating outside the defined combat zone at the time.

“Currently, the amount of remaining blank space is extremely limited. A large-scale addition of names to the Memorial, such as those of the 74 crew members of the U.S.S. Evans…cannot be accommodated in the remaining space,” Smith said in his testimony. “If passed, S.849 would necessitate substantial modification, and possibly a wholesale replacement, of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall as it exists today.”

Smith also said the department is “sympathetic to the desire to memorialize the sailors who died” and is open to working with the senators “to explore other ways to properly recognize and commemorate” the lost sailors.

To Kraus, anything less than adding the names of the 74 sailors to the memorial wall itself would be a “consolation prize” after decades of inaction.

“The Department has reviewed several requests to add the names of the 74 fallen Sailors from FRANK E. EVANS to The Wall, all of which concluded that the fallen crew of the EVANS did not meet the established criteria,” a Pentagon spokesman said in an emailed statement to Military Times. “This decision does not diminish in any way the sacrifice that the EVANS’ sailors and their families have made for our Nation.”

The National Park Service did not respond to a request for comment.

“For all the parents who are gone now, like Eunice Sage, who was the mother of the three Sage brothers [killed on the Evans]. In her life, that was the only thing that really mattered for all those years was getting recognition for her boys on the wall,” Kraus said. “That was her hope and her glimmer for her life, and that didn’t happen.”

“We only have a handful of mothers and fathers who are left now. When you find an injustice like this, someone has to pick up the torch and carry it,” Kraus concluded.

The Washington Examiner first reported this story.

More than 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the helicopter pilots and crew members killed in action during the conflict were honored at Arlington National Cemetery with their own monument.

On Wednesday, the Vietnam Pilot and Crewmember Monument was dedicated near the Tomb of the Unknowns at the Virginia cemetery.

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association spearheaded the effort to honor the nearly 5,000 pilots and crew members killed during the war. With help from the cemetery and Congress, the monument was approved in 2017, three years after the idea was first proposed.

Vietnam veterans, families and friends filled the cemetery’s amphitheater Wednesday afternoon before following a wreath procession to the monument in Section 35 on Memorial Drive.

As the crowd gathered around the monument, “Taps” rang out among the cemetery, and the thudding of distant helicopters caused attendees to wonder out loud if Hueys were about to appear on the horizon.

Over the tops of the trees in Arlington, four helicopters from Marine Helicopter Squadron One — which transports the president — flew over as the crowd clapped and cheered.

“This [monument] is something we’ve been waiting for a long, long time,” said Michael Mikulan, who flew helicopters in Vietnam in 1969. “For many of us here who are 70 and above, this is it. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Mikulan, who served in the Army for 28 years, said Vietnam veterans helped pave the way for future generations of service members returning from war.

“Vietnam soldiers were rejected by society when they came back. They were blamed for the war along with the politicians who created policy,” he told Army Times. “All of the [troops] in the modern era, for at least the last 15 years … have benefited because now people are able to see a warrior and know it’s okay to hate war but love the warrior.”

Brock Nicholson, who flew Huey helicopters in Vietnam, said it meant a lot to him to have the pilots and crew members honored.

“People ask me if I was glad I went to Vietnam,” Nicholson said. “And I say absolutely, and I’m glad I came home because so many did not.”

The war was known as the “helicopter war” because the United States relied heavily on the aircraft to transport troops and provide close-air support.

When the monument was originally proposed, the cemetery’s advisory committee deadlocked 3-3 on the idea.

The tiebreaker went to then-Army Secretary John McHugh, who decided to not move forward with the original monument.

“The prime directive for the cemetery is to do everything it can not to initiate an action that would displace an otherwise-eligible veteran,” McHugh told Time magazine in 2016. “On a very tough decision, that philosophy and unwritten rule was the determining factor.”

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Hesselbein, who flew AH-1 Cobra gunships in Vietnam, said Arlington National Cemetery’s primary mission is to provide grave space for American heroes, but its secondary mission is to be a national shrine.

“I think the American people expect Arlington to be a combination of grave sites and memorials such as this,” Hesselbein, a member of the VHPA, told Army Times in March.

“People need to create memorials and monuments to honor those who give the ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

Fox had a storied Marine career that spanned 43 years with multiple tours of duty in Vietnam and the Korean War. He passed away at the age of 86 on Nov. 24, 2017.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1971 by President Richard Nixon during a White House ceremony for his heroic actions in Vietnam on February 22, 1969, while serving as a company commander for Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division.

While operating in the A Shau Valley, Quang Tri Province, then 1st Lt. Fox’s company “came under intense fire” from a concealed enemy force, his Medal of Honor citation reads.

Fox was wounded in the attack but continued to direct his company while “advancing through enemy fire” and personally neutralized one enemy position, according to the citation.

Fox directed air power and after his executive officer was killed, Fox “reorganized the company” and directed their fire as they “drove the hostile forces into retreat.”

Wounded again in the final attack, Fox refused treatment and supervised the medical evacuation of his men.

Fox came into the Corps as an enlisted man, reached the rank of first sergeant in 1966 and subsequently was commissioned a second lieutenant that same year.

He had served as a rifleman, drill instructor at the recruit depot aboard San Diego, California, a recruiter and as a platoon sergeant with the 1st Force Reconnaissance.

Some of his awards include the Medal of Honor, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” for valor, four purple hearts and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Without them, she says she would not have survived. Cavagnaro’s family fled Saigon on April 30, 1975 — hours before the Communist forces captured the South Vietnamese capital — and took refuge in the United States. She was a little over 1 year old at the time.

Cavagnaro, now 44, of Barnegat, gave thanks to hundreds of Vietnam veterans last Thursday, unveiling what may be the country’s first Vietnam veterans monument created by a Vietnamese refugee.

“You helped keep Communists away from our neighborhoods in Vietnam,” she told hundreds of veterans and supporters at Gazebo Park in Barnegat, “and you made sure we had safe passage to your own country when we lost ours.”

Wearing a long yellow and red dress, designed like the South Vietnamese flag, Cavagnaro lifted the white cover and revealed a 21-by-28-inch black plaque, which she and her husband James purchased. In large white letters, the monument says “welcome home.”

The historic monument came as the country observes the first National Vietnam War Veterans Day. U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., state Sen. Christopher Connors, R-Ocean, Exercise Tiger Association Director Susan Haines and other dignitaries from across the country attended, joining hundreds of veterans at the park.

Singer Ron Brooks, the first double amputee Eagle Scout, performed the national anthem. Former Navy SEAL and pundit Jonathan T. Gilliam delivered the keynote speech.

Cavagnaro said she hopes the monument inspires others to launch projects in their own towns to honor veterans who served in Vietnam.

Ocean County is home to 42,494 veterans, more than any other county in New Jersey, according to census figures. The Barnegat American Legion alone has 768 veterans, including many who served in Vietnam, says commander Gene O’Grady.

For those veterans, the ceremony means getting recognized decades after returning to a country that didn’t welcome them.

“When we came home, we did not get any of that, no parades, no welcomes,” says Army veteran Rick Amsterdam, a Barnegat resident who served from 1969 to 1972. “I stepped off the train. I didn’t even get home yet to see my mother, I was in a fistfight in the middle of a road.”

Cavagnaro wanted to change that. She pitched the monument and a series of “Thank You” dinners to the American Legion board members, in hopes of getting their blessing.

At the dedication ceremony, Frank Healey recalled the attacks he and fellow veterans faced after the war when they wore their uniform in public.

“We had gone like our older brothers, who went to Korea. We had gone like our fathers, who went to World War II,” said Healey, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10092 who served from 1967 to 1968, “but we didn’t come home. We came back.”

Then he turned to Thy and James Cavagnaro.

“Thank you for this day,” he said. “This is home. This is home.”

Cavagnaro has no memory of Vietnam, but she grew up hearing her family’s stories of their harrowing escape.

Her uncle, captain of a Vietnamese naval minesweeper, could only fit 104 people on his ship. Initially, they considered leaving behind family members on her mom’s side.

“She had a family of 12, she could only take two people,” Cavagnaro said. “She had to have her father decide, to choose who would live and whoever would die.”

They changed their minds when they heard the city was being captured. His ship left with an estimated 998 people and a dog on board — hours before the U.S.-backed regime announced its surrender to the North Vietnamese forces.

“We literally escaped by the skin of our teeth,” she said.

Tens of thousands packed boats fleeing the Communist forces and died out at sea.

The ship Cavagnaro’s family boarded broke down along the way, but it was towed across the South China Sea to U.S. forces in the Philippines.

Cavagnaro’s family was sent to a refugee camp in Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, where they started their new lives.

Cavagnaro says she grew up hearing about her family’s escape story, but she didn’t delve deep until the anniversary of the war four decades later.

She and her husband, James, started exploring the history of the Vietnam War and learned about the struggles veterans faced.

Cavagnaro embarked on a personal mission. Whenever she saw a Vietnam War veteran, she would walk up and thank him for his service.

Cavagnaro honked the horn at motorists with Vietnam War bumper stickers, holding up a sign that says “welcome home.” She often pulled over when she saw veterans with Vietnam War caps and hugged them. She expressed her gratitude on her Facebook page.

The point, she said was, “to help them see that not everybody felt that way, that people like me — a Vietnamese refugee, people that they were trying to help — felt differently and were really appreciative.”

Cavagnaro started planning the memorial in 2017. Once she got approval from the township and local veterans groups, she and her husband purchased the stone and made arrangements to place it in Gazebo Park at the base of the flagpole.

Meanwhile, the Cavagnaros pursued a more intimate approach of connecting with veterans. They organized dinners for small groups of Vietnam War veterans, first at Backward Flag Brewing in Lacey and then at the American Legion.

“A lot of these guys never got the proper welcome home. Really, a lot of them never got the recognition that they deserved,” said O’Grady, the local American Legion commander. “To me, that was a no brainer to be able to have Thy meet the Vietnam veterans from our town in our post.”

About 20 veterans and their families were invited each time. Men who for years kept quiet about Vietnam swapped war stories with fellow soldiers and Cavagnaro as she shared her family’s story of coming to the United States.

“We told them, ‘Because of you, people like me and my family were able to start over,’” she recalled. “We were able to survive, first of all, and then start over in this amazing country of yours. . That’s when it clicked.”

Amsterdam, the Army veteran, reminisced with Cavagnaro’s father about Nui Ba Den, the Black Virgin Mountain near the Cambodian border. Amsterdam was a radio messenger for a nearby artillery and infantry unit.

Tony Kopke, a Coast Guard veteran from Barnegat, shared stories of the Coast Guard’s role with Cavagnaro. He brought maps, posters and brochures about the Coast Guard to the Barnegat American Legion after the dedication ceremony.

“Most people don’t even know the Coast Guard was there,” Kopke said. “The Coast Guard probably helped save many, many lives by intercepting all those guns and ammunition and supplies that came from sea from North Vietnamese.”

They cleared their schedules to attend the dedication ceremony and meet fellow Vietnam veterans. Hundreds flocked to the park and then to the Barnegat American Legion for food. There Amsterdam met with veterans from across the region.

Among them was Ngo Quyen, who served as a lieutenant for the Republic of Vietnam. He served in the war on the South Vietnamese side from 1968 to 1975.

“Today, it’s their day,” he said of the U.S. veterans. “New day, new way. They should be proud when they have their Vietnam War cap.”

Information from: Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, http://www.app.com

About 130 Army and Air Force Exchange stores worldwide, as well as seven Navy Exchange stores and some Marine Corps Exchange locations, will hand out the pins provided by the Vietnam War Commemoration office, a Defense Department-backed agency responsible for marking the 50th anniversary of the conflict. Seventy commissaries will host commemorative ceremonies that day, according to commissary officials. The ceremonies will be free and open to the public, but those planning to attend should check with their local store to confirm location and time of ceremony.

The pins are available for “United States veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time during the period of November 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of location,” per the group’s website.

But AAFES and NEX officials said neither chain will require proof of service for veterans to receive the pin; an MCX spokesman said via email that he could not immediately answer questions about eligibility.

Commissary officials said the 70 commissaries will hand out the lapel pins as part of their ceremonies. There was no published requirement for veterans to provide proof of Vietnam-period service to get the pin at commissaries, a commissary spokesman said.

Commissary and exchange officials have compiled a joint list of locations.

The AAFES locations include stores throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Guam and other overseas outlets that will be providing the pins from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Participating NEX locations include stores in Norfolk, Virginia; Jacksonville and Pensacola, Florida; Bethesda, Maryland; San Diego; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Guam. Details on those events are available on NEX’s Facebook events page.

The Pacific Views MCX at Camp Pendleton, California, will give away the lapel pins “all day” on Thursday. No further details on that event or on other MCX events were available, though the exchange at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, reportedly will distribute the pins March 25-29, and some MCX locations appear on the joint list linked above.

Coast Guard media affairs officials didn’t respond to an email requesting information on possible Coast Guard Exchange events.

Veterans whose service makes them eligible for a lapel pin but who can’t get one at a nearby commissary or exchange can check the commemoration office’s website for a map of nearby events, or for contact information regarding partner organizations in their area. The can also email the commission at whs.vnwar50th_CPP_EVENTS@mail.mil.

The pins have been available nationwide since 2015. Asked about eligibility requirements for those visiting exchanges for their pins, a commission official directed all questions to the exchanges.

Pin requirements vary by event: Veterans honored by the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Florida will be on the honor system, while those receiving pins from a Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Kansas must provide a DD-214.

The commission also runs a Certificate of Honor program, which makes certificates available to former Vietnam-era prisoners of war and some surviving family members of those who served during the conflict.

The Veterans Affairs Department estimates we are losing more than 500 veterans per day who served during the Vietnam War years. We must act now to do what should have been done 50 years ago.

Across the nation, Americans are uniting to thank and honor these veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice. Spearheading this effort is the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration office.

Of special significance, President Trump last year signed into law the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, establishing National Vietnam War Veterans Day that will, henceforth, be celebrated every March 29. This March 29 will be the first anniversary of the new law.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington — “the Wall” — will play a significant role in our nation’s honoring of our Vietnam veterans on that special day. The Wall is an arresting reminder to its more than 5 million annual visitors of the service and sacrifice of the more than 58,000 Americans whose names are on that black granite memorial. There is something haunting and yet cleansing about that special place.

Senior members of the Defense Department and VA will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony on that day at that hallowed site.

The commemoration office is also coordinating with governors of all U.S. states, commonwealths and territories, and the mayor of the District of Columbia, to host similar events on or around this day; as of March 19, 47 states had committed to do so.

The commemoration was authorized by Congress, under DoD auspices, and launched at the Wall in 2012. Our goal is to thank and honor America’s 6.6 million living veterans of the 9 million who served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces from Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975 — regardless of location — and the families of all who served.

Nearly 3 million served “in country” and another 6 million served elsewhere. All were called to serve. None could self-determine where they were stationed, and each deserves our thanks.

Those who served in country experienced unique hardships that only come with service in a combat zone, which every veteran understands and honors. While we recognize all, those who served in country deserve our special appreciation.

Inspired by thousands of local, state and national organizations that have partnered with the commemoration, Americans have already publicly and individually thanked and honored nearly 2 million of these veterans and their families in hometowns across the nation.

Those who have joined us in the hometown-centric Commemorative Partner Program (more than 11,000 organizations) have committed to conducting two events per year, in their local communities, that recognize and honor our veterans and their families. These partners have held more than 12,000 events to date.

There are no costs associated with becoming a commemorative partner, and we heartily invite organizations to join the mix of dedicated local and national businesses, corporations, veterans and military organizations, associations, educational institutions, community groups, towns, cities, states and many others that have committed to assist the nation in this noble effort.

The commemoration is providing Vietnam Veteran lapel pins to commemorative partners for dignified public presentations, during commemorative events, to living U.S. veterans who served during the Vietnam War period. Each veteran who served during the dates above is eligible to receive one lapel pin.

Vietnam veterans can locate upcoming commemorative events here; zoom in to locate your state and city or town, and click a blue pin to reveal details of an upcoming event, including contact information.

If there are no blue pins in your area, check back frequently as new events are added every week. Veterans who need help finding a commemorative event can email the commission.

Now is the time for all Americans to fully embrace the brave men and women who returned home from Vietnam and other locations around the world, often to shame and disgrace — or served in uniform during that period and failed to get the respect due them — by publicly thanking them with honor and dignity, as well as recognizing the sacrifices of their families.

Please visit www.vietnamwar50th.com or email us at whs.pentagon.wso.mbx.vnwar50th-cpp@mail.mil for more information about the Commemoration and the Commemorative Partner Program, respectively. Join the nation … thank a Vietnam veteran!

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Jim Jackson is the director of the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration.

The Certificate of Honor program recognizes individuals in these four categories:

• Living former prisoners of war from the Vietnam War, as listed by the Defense Department.
• Immediate family members of U.S. military personnel listed by DoD as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
  
• Immediate family members of veterans listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  
• Surviving spouses (from time of death) of a veteran who served between Nov. 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975.
  

Those eligible for the above awards must obtain them through a commemorative partner — a local organization that works with the commission.

To find out more about partners in your area, as well as specific eligibility requirements, visit www.vietnamwar50th.com, call the commemoration offices at 877-387-9951, or email vnwar50th_coh@mail.mil.

Canley’s actions during the battle of Hue City, Vietnam, in 1968 have him one step away from receiving the nation’s highest award for combat valor, the Medal of Honor.

The former private first class, John Ligato, and others who served under Canley, then a gunnery sergeant during the infamous battle, have led a nearly 13-year effort to upgrade Canley’s Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor.

A formal recommendation for that upgrade is now on President Donald Trump’s desk.

Facing nearly impossible odds, then-Gunny Canely’s undersized company with the 1st Marine Division headed into Hue City at the outset of the Tet Offensive.

“I don’t know if you know the actual odds going in,” Ligato told Marine Corps Times Tuesday. “The intel was off. They told us for several days there was only an undersized company of NVA [North Vietnamese Army], and historians have later determined that number at 10,000 NVA.”

The city was completely under enemy control when Canley’s unit entered the city, and the company commander was injured early in the fight.

“We didn’t have any officers at the time because the company commander was seriously wounded right away, and I basically took charge,” Canley told Marine Corps Times Tuesday.

From Jan. 31- Feb. 2, 1968, gunny kept his men alive by “sheer will,” Ligato said.

Canley rarely slept during the battle, and was seen repelling multiple attacks almost single-handedly on his unit’s position.

He was “literally charging machine gun positions with law rockets and hand grenades” on several different occasions, Ligato recounted.

Canley said, “For a leader, basically the only thing you’re thinking about is taking care of your people and defeating the enemy.”

Canley’s efforts saved the lives of many of his men.

“He’s a national treasure,” Ligato said.

Canley will be in attendance at Tuesday night’s State of the Union on Capitol Hill. The retired Marine will be there as a guest of Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., who helped Canley and his men spearhead through bureaucratic red tape that left the gunny’s upgrade in limbo for more than a decade.

On Monday, President Trump signed a bill lifting a five-year time restriction on awarding the Medal of Honor, allowing the upgrade to proceed.

Secretary of Defense Mattis still has to present the award and citation to Trump so that it can be signed and awarded to Canley.

“My love for the Marine Corps was leading Marines in combat and training Marines in that order,” Canley said.