Dec. 5, 1964 | Army Captain Gets Medal of Honor from LBJ

Dec. 5, 1964 - President Johnson reaffirmed today the United States’ commitment to fight Communism in South Vietnam as he decorated this country’s first military hero of the hostilities there to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration for gallantry.
“This is a proud moment for all Americans,” the President said, hanging the medal around the neck of 30-year‐old Roger H. C. Donlon, an Army captain from Saugerties, N.Y.
“Let any who suggest we cannot honor our commitment in Vietnam find new strength and new resolution in the actions of this brave man and his comrades in arms far away,” Johnson emphasized.
At the same time, during an elaborate ceremony in the East Room of the White House, the President drew a stern moral of service to the nation.
He castigated those who he said were unwilling to resist the “glamor of gold” and sacrifice easy jobs and security tor service in Government.
Apparently irked by resignations of some Government officials and refusals to take assignments in his Administration as he prepares for the next term, the President observed:
“So very often 9-to-5 hours, Saturday at the country club, profit‐sharing and pension trusts all mean so much that the call of country is sometimes answered, ‘No.’”
Recalling the World War I recruiting poster with Uncle Sam pointing his finger and saying, “Your country needs you,” Mr. Johnson looked into the T.V. cameras and said:
“Well, your country does need you today in these times. And the finger points at every American, of every age and of every station.”
Then the President nodded toward Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and described him, a former president of the Ford Motor Company, as one who “represents to me in our civilian life what Captain Donlon represents in the military life, the very best of America.”
The President spoke from a lectern set up before the east wall of the famous ballroom, between the huge paintings of George and Martha Washington. An honor guard representing the military services stood at attention.
Captain Donlon, tall, lean, with closely cropped blond hair, stood ramrod stiff throughout the 15 minutes of talk and ceremony. His blue eyes stared straight ahead.
Captain Donlon’s first military service was in the Air Force, but he shifted to the Army when he was accepted at West Point in 1955.
However, for what an official described as “personal reasons,” he left the Academy after two years.
Captain Donlon was out of uniform almost 10 months but returned to the Army as an enlisted man in 1958 and, less than one year later, was accepted in officer candidate school. He was promoted to captain while serving in his Vietnam assignment.

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