Gary Littrell is a native of Henderson, Kentucky. His mom died when he was just five, so he was taken in by his grandparents on a nearby farm.
When he was nine, an uncle drove him down to Fort Campbell to watch a parachute demonstration by airborne soldiers. He says he was hooked then and there.
In 1961, a day after turning 17, he enlisted in the Army. A year later, after his initial training, he was deployed to Okinawa with the new 173rd Airborne Brigade. He married a Japanese native, Mitsue, and they had two boys.
In 1965, Gary was reassigned to the 82nd Airborne and returned to the U.S. to deploy with the 82nd to the Dominican Republic. He then returned to Fort Benning to complete Ranger School, graduating in 1966 and remaining there as an instructor until 1969, when he deployed to Vietnam.
Eight months into his deployment, 25-year-old then-1SG Littrell was with the Military Assistance Command, Advisory Team 21, at a base camp in central Vietnam not far from the Laotian border. He was serving as an adviser to the 23d Battalion, 2d Ranger Group, Republic of Vietnam Army.
On 4 April 1970, Gary’s 23rd Battalion, consisting of 473 South Vietnamese soldiers and three other American advisers, was moving southward toward Cambodia, searching for enemy units in order to call in air strikes against them. It was after dark on that day when Gary realized his men were surrounded by an estimated 5,000 North Vietnamese troops.
Soon after the 473rd set up a defensive perimeter, the enemy NVA forces started unloading an endless barrage of mortar fire, killing the 473rd’s South Vietnamese commander and an American adviser. The remaining two American advisers had suffered severe injuries. Fortunately, Gary had learned to speak Vietnamese at the Defense Language Institute before his deployment and was able to effectively communicate command and control orders. He recalls, “My primary job was just command and control, trying to get the Vietnamese to stand and fight.”
According to his Medal of Honor citation: “After establishing a defensive perimeter on a hill on 4 April, the battalion was subjected to an intense enemy mortar attack which killed the Vietnamese commander, one adviser, and seriously wounded all the advisers except Sfc. Littrell.”
His citation continues:
During the ensuing four days, Sfc. Littrell exhibited near superhuman endurance as he singlehandedly bolstered the besieged battalion. Repeatedly abandoning positions of relative safety, he directed artillery and air support by day and marked the unit’s location by night, despite the heavy, concentrated enemy fire. His dauntless will instilled in the men of the 23d Battalion a deep desire to resist. Assault after assault was repulsed as the battalion responded to the extraordinary leadership and personal example exhibited by Sfc. Littrell as he continuously moved to those points most seriously threatened by the enemy, redistributed ammunition, strengthened faltering defenses, cared for the wounded, and shouted encouragement to the Vietnamese in their own language. When the beleaguered battalion was finally ordered to withdraw, numerous ambushes were encountered. Sfc. Littrell repeatedly prevented widespread disorder by directing air strikes to within 50 meters of their position.
His citation concludes: “Through his indomitable courage and complete disregard for his safety, he averted excessive loss of life and injury to the members of the battalion. The sustained extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Sfc. Littrell over an extended period of time were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him and the U.S. Army.”
Along his five-mile withdrawal path to return to friendly lines, they had to fend off numerous ambushes. Of the 476 men with whom he began the mission, only 41 survived.
In the aftermath of four days of intense combat, he says the events were hard to piece back together.
He says: “When … our missions were declassified, a young historian went to the Pentagon and got the actual operations report and some of the witness statements for my award. I started reading them, and it came back: ‘Oh my God, I do remember that happening.’ It was, of course, some interesting reading, but … you get so fatigued that you just — you don’t remember everything that went on. You just remember you had your hands full.”
It was three years after his actions at Kontum Province that he received a call to report to the 101st Airborne’s Commanding General. He recalls, “Back then, I was a little wild and pulled some crazy things every now and then, so the first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Oh, my God, what the hell did I do now?’”
But in this case, the call was to advise Gary that he would receive the Medal of Honor. And on 15 October 1973, he was presented with his medal by President Richard M. Nixon.
Gary retired from the Army in 1985 as a Command Sergeant Major. In 1993, he was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia. The mission of the RHF is to “honor and preserve the contributions of the most extraordinary U.S. Rangers in American history, to identify and highlight individuals as role models for current era Rangers, and to educate the public on the culture of the U.S. Army Rangers.” That is Gary.
Today, he says: “I’m wearing this medal for the 400 and some people that died those four days. I’m their representative. They won this medal. I was selected to wear it for them.”
He has devoted his life to the next generation of American Patriots, promoting the six core values of the Medal of Honor (courage, sacrifice, patriotism, citizenship, integrity, and commitment) to high school students across the nation. He emphasizes the significance of leading a virtuous life, highlighting that “Integrity is the most important word in the world.”
He tells his students, “If you live your life in these core values, you will be an outstanding person.”
You can listen to Gary talk about why integrity matters most in an interview with the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
In October 2024, Gary joined other Medal of Honor recipients with a rare public presidential endorsement — for Donald Trump.
CSM Gary Lee Littrell: An ordinary man faced with extraordinary circumstances, he summoned the greatest measure of courage to place his life in imminent peril to save others. Your example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty — is eternal.
“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.
(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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