State’s first Medal of Honor recipients for service in Vietnam honored during tumultuous year
In 1968, Vietnam remapped the political landscape, from President Lyndon Johnson’s decision against running for another term to the burning of draft records in downtown Milwaukee by a group of antiwar activists known as the Milwaukee 14.
Amid the protests and politicking, service men and women from Wisconsin continued to ship out for Southeast Asia, some never to return.
1968 was the first year that Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers of Wisconsin for service in Vietnam — three in all.
Robert J. Modrzejewski
To hear Robert Modrzejewski tell it, the incident that led to his receiving a Medal of Honor was just instinct.
On July 15, 1966, Modrzejewski was a captain in the Marines, commanding a company assigned to block a trail in a part of a jungle filled with enemy fighters. Although he was wounded, Modrzejewski crawled about 200 yards to bring ammunition to some of his men, who he knew were running out — and then, over the next two days, called in close-range artillery and airstrikes to beat back the enemy.
“His unparalleled personal heroism and indomitable leadership inspired his men to a significant victory,” Modrzejewski’s citation read.
The Milwaukee native received his Medal of Honor from President Johnson at a White House ceremony on March 12, 1968.
“You wonder about things, particularly when you lose a lot of people,” Modrzejewski told The Journal’s Robert W. Wells in a May 19, 1968, story. “But you don’t have too much time to think. You go on one operation. Back in base camp, by the time you catch up on all the paperwork, it’s time to go on another operation.”
Modrzejewski, who was promoted to major after those events, was assigned as commanding officer of the Marine barracks at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. But he returned home several times in 1968, including a memorial service at Custer High School honoring seven former students who had died in combat in Vietnam since 1965.
Noting the war’s divisive impact, Modrzejewski reminded his audience that, in return for their “rights and privileges,” Americans “owe our country our lasting allegiance,” according to a story in the May 18, 1968, Sentinel.
“Did these seven men agree entirely with our foreign policy? Probably not. This is a democracy and there is room for dissent.”
Kenneth E. Stumpf
Army Staff Sgt. Ken Stumpf, who came from the Menasha area, was leading his squad on a search-and-destroy mission in Duc Pho in Vietnam on April 25, 1967, when three of his men were wounded in a firefight.
In the face of enemy machine gun fire, Stumpf ran across open field and carried the men to safety one at a time. He then led his squad in taking on two enemy bunkers, taking one out himself with a grenade.
More than a year later, on Sept. 19, 1968, Stumpf was one of five men to receive the Medal of Honor from President Johnson. Although he was discharged a few months after the Duc Pho mission, Stumpf re-enlisted before 1968 ran out. He was 23 at the time.
“No more 11-to-7,” Stumpf told The Associated Press in a story published in The Journal on Oct. 17, 1968, referring to his civilian job’s late-shift hours. “I think I’d be better off going back into the service.”
Stumpf re-enlisted on Dec. 16, 1968, serving again in the Army from 1969 to ‘71.
Gary Wetzel
Gary Wetzel’s Medal of Honor came just 10 months after the combat that led to his receiving it.
On Jan. 8, 1968, the South Milwaukee native was door gunner on a helicopter that was shot down in the area around Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). A specialist fourth-class, Wetzel lost his left arm and had lost a lot of blood, but he managed to free the helicopter’s two pilots and carry them to a safe position, after manning a machine gun to fight off enemy soldiers.
On Nov. 19, 1968, President Johnson pinned the Medal of Honor on Wetzel, who was 21 and a private first class at the time.
In a story in the Dec. 22, 1968, Sentinel, Wetzel told reporter Nancy Freund that the antiwar movement was familiar to soldiers in the field.
“We heard about the war protests while we were in Vietnam,” he said. “But I figure that if you’ve grown up in the United States for 20 years you can give two years of your time.”
And the war was going to hit closer to home for Wetzel.
“My brother David is going to graduate in June, and he plans to enlist,” he told Freund. “I wish it would end over there.”