Nick Bacon - Military Service

Military Service

In 1963, at age 17, Bacon forged his mother's signature to enlist in the Arizona National Guard. The next year, he joined the US Army, and after basic training at Fort Ord in California, he was stationed in Worms, Germany. Of his military service Bacon later said, "I was never prouder, I was never in better shape, I was never more sure that I stood for something in my life than I was when I wore the uniform." He served his first tour of Vietnam in 1966 during which he was wounded three times. On his first mission in Vietnam, the helicopter he was riding in collided with another, killing everyone except Bacon and one other soldier.

Bacon volunteered to serve a second combat tour in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. He reached the rank of staff sergeant while serving with Company B, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division. On August 26, 1968, while leading a squad in Bravo Company's 1st Platoon, in an operation west of Tam Kỳ, Bacon and his unit came under fire from enemy positions. While Bacon destroyed these positions with hand grenades, his platoon leader was wounded in open ground. Assuming command, Bacon led the platoon in destroying still more enemy emplacements.

When the 3rd Platoon lost its leader, Bacon took command of that platoon as well and led both platoons against the remaining enemy positions. During the evacuation of the wounded, Bacon climbed the side of a nearby tank to gain a vantage point and direct fire into enemy positions, despite his exposure to enemy fire. "I got my boot heel shot off, I got holes in my canteens, I got my rifle grip shot up," he recalled in "Beyond Glory," a 2003 book by Larry Smith of history interviews with Medal of Honor recipients. "I got shrapnel holes in my camouflage covers, and bullets in my pot. A bullet creased the edge of it, tore the lining off." He was personally credited with killing at least 4 enemy soldiers and destroying an antitank gun.

For his actions in this battle, Bacon received the Medal of Honor. The medal was formally presented to him by President Richard Nixon during a 1969 White House ceremony. For his service in Vietnam and throughout his career, he also received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, two Purple Heart medals (one awarded later in 2008 due to an administrative oversight) and numerous other awards and decorations. "Did I enjoy combat? Yeah. I enjoyed the game," Bacon said in the "Beyond Glory" interview. "I was good at it."

Bacon requested a third tour of duty in Vietnam but was denied. He instead served as a reenlistment noncommissioned officer at Fort Hood, Texas, was stationed in Giessen, Germany, and worked in the training command at Fort McClellan, Alabama, before retiring in June 1984 as a first sergeant. He chose to retire from the military when he received orders to go to Korea. He was newly married to his second wife and had a young son. "When I was young, it was fun traveling and having new adventures," he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1997. "But I didn't want to start over again with raising a family back home and being halfway around the world myself. As you get older, you would like to think of yourself as tough and that you could still strap it all on and head for the boonies, but you can't do that . . . Wars are fought by young men."