The Captain Draude Story | ||||||
| This story recounts the events of April 21-22, 1966. It is presented in memory of LCpl. Charles Ronald Gurtler, Cpl. Frederick Wayne Miller, Sgt. Charles Benjamin Norris, and Pfc. Henry Carlos Tisdale who lost their lives in the battle described
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Let me tell you this story about courage, In April of 1966, a young Marine, Captain Thomas V. Draude, Naval Academy class of ‘62, was the company commander of Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. Mike Company was operating in Quang Ngai Province of Vietnam conducting a search and destroy mission. One morning they came under intense small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire from concealed and entrenched enemy company inside a hamlet. Captain Draude directed his unit to attack this hamlet, which was later determined to be the base for Viet Cong operations. The attack encountered heavy and determined resistance. Repeated artillery and air strikes failed to reduce the defensive positions of the enemy. The flight raged on.Determined to seize the objective, Captain Draude said that for the first time in his career he gave the order to his unit to “fix bayonets”. It is a solemn moment when combat Marines fix bayonets on their weapons. Individuals look at that rifle with renewed respect, because they know that in a few minutes someone is about to die - on one end or the other. Late in the day, they attacked and seized in the hamlet. 31 Viet Cong had been killed. But as night approached, Capt. Draude decided to have the company, still in contact with the enemy, fall back to a more defensible position. After they had fallen back, Captain Draude was informed that one of his Marines, Corporal Frederick Miller of Berlin, Ohio, had been hit and lay dead in the hamlet. Although physically exhausted from the nonstop all day fighting, Captain Draude and two other Marines immediately ran back into the hamlet, still receiving small arms fire, and, by the light of burning huts, searched for Corporal Miller. When Captain Draude finally found where the Marine had fallen, he picked up Corporal Miller's body, and, while dodging bullets, carried him back four hundred meters to friendly cover. Now that his physical courage, the ability to overcome the fear of bodily injury and death. That fear is real. I'm not talking about being scared on the first time out; even seasoned combat veterans must overcome fear. When you see bodies torn apart by the horrors of combat, when you hold someone you know as they bleed to death in your arms, when you write a letter to a friend's family explaining that a loved one is not coming home - you understand the reality of our business. In the Naval services you can not escape fear, you must deal with it. How did Captain Draude overcome this fear? Where did his physical courage come from? First, he was well trained; second, he had convictions; and third, he understood the real reason we fight. We fight for one another. Now, all come back to this, but, me tell you what else happened. The day after the battle, the Battalion Commander came to Mike Company's position and noticed that the company commander’s flack jacket was covered with blood. When the Battalion Commander heard that during the battle Captain Draude had gone back into the hamlet to recover the body of the dead Marine, he flew into a rage, yanked Captain Draude aside and fiercely reprimanded him. The Battalion Commander told Captain Draude his actions were stupid, foolish, and had endangered himself and his Marines needlessly. After five minutes of non-stop admonishment, the Battalion Commander demanded that Captain Draude never do anything like that again and threatened to relieve him if he did. The Battalion Commander finally fell silent. Captain Draude said that moment of silence seemed like an eternity and became a defining moment in his life. He had a golden opportunity to keep his mouth shut and walk away. But, that would have been lying by omission and misleading his senior. Instead, he looked at his Battalion Commander and said "I understand what you are saying, sir, however, given the same situation with a dead or wounded Marine left behind I'm afraid I would have to do the same thing." This time the Battalion Commander went ballistic. He told Captain Draude he was fired and he was relieving him of his company command . Just to make matters worse, about that time a helicopter flew over and began to land. About jumped the Assistant Division Commander, BGen. Styles, who is shouting at the top of his lungs "Where is the company commander of Mike Company?" Captain Draude said he felt like it was the worst day in his life. He had just been chewed out, was now in the process of being relieved by his Battalion Commander and in a few minutes he was probably going to be placed under arrest and court martialed by a Marine General. Captain Draude remembers thinking how here he was, a young Marine, just four years out of the Naval Academy, and now his military career was over. Now that is moral courage, the ability to overcome the fear of hurting someone or something you love in order to stand up for what is right. Once again, that fear is very real. You may think it is always easy to stand up, speak out, or take action in order to do what is right, and that by doing so you could never hurt something you love. It is not always so easy. Captain Draude loved the Marine Corps. If he was relieved, he would probably not be promoted would be forced to leave. Captain Draude loved his Marines. If his Marines never learned the details of why he was fired or maybe even punished by a court martial, he would lose their respect. Captain Draude loved his family. If he was disgraced, he would hurt and shame them. How did Captain Draude overcome this fear? Where did his moral courage come from? First, he was well trained; second, he had convictions; - the same sources of strength for physical courage - and third, he understood the real reason why we do the right thing. We do the right thing because our ideals are more important than ourselves. I’ll get back to this, but me tell you what happened to Captain Draude. When some Marines pointed out Captain Draude, General Stiles rushed over to where he and his Battalion Commander were standing. The General grabbed Captain Draude’s hand and started shaking his arm off, and slapping him on the back. General Stiles told him what a great job he had done and went on and on about how proud the General was to have Captain Draude in the division. Finally, the general looked at the Battalion Commander in said "How can you go wrong with such a fine young man as this?" Well, needless to say, instead of being relieved and ending his career, Captain Draude went on to much more. For his actions that day, he received the Silver Star, one of two he was awarded for heroism in Vietnam. He went on to be a Brigadier General and was himself an assistant division commander in combat, serving with the 1st Marine Division during Desert Storm. Now General Draude is a courageous man. Not only did he receive two Silver Stars for heroism in Vietnam, he was awarded the Purple Heart, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal. The last three with the combat “V” for valor. But, he would tell you, that it was much harder for him, when he could have remained silent, to speak up and tell his Battalion Commander something that he knew would get him relieved, than it was to risk death and go back into the hamlet to recover Corporal Miller's body. And that leads us to two important points that I want make about courage. First, moral courage is tougher than physical courage. And second, you will be required to display moral courage for more often than you will be required to show physical courage. |
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