Over 50 Vietnam vets finally get Bronze Stars for Hollywood-like actions in combat

Over 50 members of a U.S. Army military police company who fought in Vietnam received Bronze Stars after an Army review of the records of their actions.

“Hollywood couldn’t make this up,” said Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, one of those who pushed to recognize the service of Bravo Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, according to a report from Military.com.

Bravo Company, known as the “Bushwhackers,” was reportedly the first Army MP unit in U.S. military history to take on an infantry mission during its time in Vietnam. From 1967 to 1970, the company adapted to their new role and led a mission to disrupt attacks on Long Binh Post, a large U.S. logistical base north of Saigon.

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The mission proved to be a dangerous one for Bravo Company, with 24 members awarded the Purple Heart, 13 going to troops killed in action.

Bravo Company took those challenges head on, according to their company commander, who said the soldiers adapted to the mission without complaint.

“I didn’t have a problem with troops complaining. They accepted the mission,” former Capt. Daryl Solomonson told Military.com. “Guys would come in, they would go out and learn on the job. We had to do a lot of improvising. We just trained everybody as they came in.”

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Previous efforts to recognize the company had fallen flat, but Latta led a new charge to get its members the recognition many believed they deserved.

“This day has been a long time coming,” said Latta, who presided over the presentation of the medals at the U.S. Capitol.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Drew told Military.com that the Army’s Human Resources Command is conducting a major review of records to determine if other soldiers missed out on well-deserved awards. The review will start with WWII-era records, and make its way to the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

In all, 56 members of Bravo Company received the award. Former Spc. 4 Steven Aurelio, who served with the company, told Military.com the Bronze Stars are welcome recognition of the troops who “didn’t quite receive a hurrah when they came home and this will probably be a last hurrah for many.”

“It’s official recognition of who we were and what we did,” Aurelio said.