Army retiree to receive Soldier’s Medal for heroism after 43 years
FORT EUSTIS, Va. – A retired Army lieutenant colonel will be recognized for an act of courage performed 43 years ago during a ceremony here Sept. 26 at 10:30 a.m.
U.S. Army Aviator Harold Campbell, who now resides in Williamsburg, was the operations officer at the 14th Transportation Battalion at Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1968, when fire rapidly engulfed numerous buildings and improvised huts near the entrance of a civilian refugee camp next to his billets. Campbell and two other officers ran into the camp to lead residents to safety and entered huts while they blazed, locating trapped people by their screams.
The Soldiers Medal was created by an Act of Congress in 1926 to reward acts of heroism “not involving actual conflict with an armed enemy,” according to the selection criteria. Approximately 18,520 have been awarded to U.S. Army Soldiers.
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