09/23/2026
THERE NEEDS TO BE A SPECIAL PLACE
FOR THIS VETERAN AT THE GVM.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ???
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DN3bKzofu/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Gary Wetzel's arm was nearly t*rn off his body. He crawled back to his machine gun anyway.
He was just 20 years old.
A door gunner. 173rd As*ault Helicopter Company.
January 8, 1968. Near Ap D**g An, Vietnam.
His helicopter went down in a landing zone, trapped under heavy enemy fire.
Two crewmen were already dead.
His aircraft commander was wounded.
Wetzel went to help him.
Two enemy rockets expl*ded inches away.
He was blown into a rice paddy.
His left arm was nearly severed. His right arm, chest, and leg were t*rn open by shrapnel.
Most men would have stopped there.
Wetzel staggered back to his gun-well.
He remounted his machine gun with one working arm.
It was the only weapon still f!ring on the enemy.
He kept shooting until the position that had been k!LL!ng American troops finally went silent.
Then he lost consciousness.
He came to. He crawled toward his aircraft commander, still trying to help him to safety.
He passed out again.
He came to again.
Six enemy soldiers were trying to strip his own machine gun off the wreckage.
Wetzel grabbed a submachine gun with his one good hand and cut down all six.
His pilot didn't survive. Wetzel did.
Doctors amputated his left arm.
President Lyndon Johnson presented him the Medal of Honor in November 1968.
Gary Wetzel went home to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spent the rest of his life working as a heavy equipment operator, one arm, no complaints.
A 20-year-old lost his arm in the first few seconds of that fight.
He still had enough left to save the men beside him.
