U.S. Military Service
Born in 1939 in Oklahoma, his father served in the Army Air Force in World War II and was killed in action. Gritz was raised by his maternal grandparents on patriotic stories of his father's heroics in the war. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1957 and shortly thereafter attended Officer Candidate School (OCS). As a Lt. Col. in Vietnam, he commanded detachment "B-36," U.S. Army Special Forces 5th SFG for a time. B-36 was a mixed American and South Vietnamese unit which operated in the III Corps area of Southern South Vietnam. He served in a variety of assignments until his retirement in 1979 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Gritz' huge claimed array of military awards has been drawn into question. A memo regarding his awards and award recommendations during his time in Vietnam seems to indicate that Gritz was personally involved with the recommendation of some of his medals, including the Legion of Merit, and that some of his awards recommendations cited the same missions and incidents, effectively awarding Gritz multiple medals for the same missions, including the Legion of Merit, Air Medal, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Army Commendation Medal.
Read more about this topic: Bo Gritz
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