1. Roy Benavidez
cinco de agosto 1935 – vientineuve noviembre 1988
Roy P. Benavidez was born in the United States in Lindenau near Cuero, Texas.
His parents were of Mexican and Yaqui Indian ancestry. Benavidez and his younger
brother were raised by their aunt and uncle along with eight cousins. Benavidez shined
shoes at the local bus station, labored on farms in Texas and Colorado, and worked at a
tire shop in El Campo. He went to school sporadically, and at the age 15 he dropped out
to work full-time to help support the family.
In June 1955, he enlisted in the regular United States Army. He married Hilaria
Coy in 1959. In 1965 he was sent to South Vietnam where he stepped on a land mine
during a patrol and was evacuated to the United States, where doctors thought he would
never walk again. Despite his injuries he walked out of the hospital with his wife. On
May 2, 1968, a 12-man Special Forces team was surrounded by a NVA battalion. Roy
heard the radio appeal for help and boarded a helicopter to respond. Armed only with a
knife, he jumped from the helicopter carrying a medical bag and rushed to join the
trapped team. Roy was extremely brave, strong, and courageous. He was believed dead
after finally being evacuated and was being zipped up in a body bag when he mustered
the last of his strength and spit in the face of a medic, thereby alerting nearby medical
personnel that he was still alive. On February 24, 1981, President Ronald Reagan
presented Roy P. Benavidez the Medal of Honor.
