At the horrific battle of Ap Nha Mat on 5 December 1965, Sergeant Oliver Fugere and soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, fought off a Viet Cong force four times greater than their own.

 Over a six-hour period, Sgt Fugere directed his platoon in the fight, personally slayed numerous VC, and assisted in the evacuation of his wounded. When the platoon ran out of ammo, he made trip after trip stealing weapons off the dead Vietnamese for his soldiers to use. 

When snipers wreaked havoc on the Americans, Fugere walked back and forth down a trail, waiting for the shots that would reveal the snipers’ positions. He wiped them out one by one. By the following morning, Fugere’s company had taken 50% casualties. 

His platoon was reduced from 50 men down to 7. Fugere made every effort to retrieve the bodies of all his dead before he was forced to board a chopper and evacuate the battlefield. The photo with this post was taken after the battle, with countless dead Americans waiting their turn for evacuation from Ap Nha Mat.

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For his incredible courage and selfless heroism, Oliver Fugere was nominated for the Medal of Honor. The award was inexplicably downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1996, his fellow soldiers unsuccessfully petitioned President Bill Clinton to have his award upgraded. Fugere died in December that same year at 64 years old.

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