We Remember Medal of Honor John Baca!

On this day in 1970, a soldier engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Specialist Fourth Class John Baca must have seemed an unlikely hero? He’d once been a troubled teenager, even going to juvenile hall for petty crimes.

“The best thing was getting drafted,” he later said. “Because you know, I probably would have maybe spent a little time in jail.”

The Army saved Baca—and Baca returned the favor by saving several of his fellow soldiers.

Baca was drafted straight out of high school in 1969. By February 1970, he was in Vietnam serving with a heavy-weapons platoon. His company had been ordered out to set up an ambush, along with a rifle platoon. Our soldiers were helicoptered to their target at dusk and left to establish their position.

Part of their effort, of course, was to set up trip wires that would alert them to activity in the area.

Suddenly, something set off a trip wire. The scene that followed was chaotic, as explosions and other fire ripped through the area. Some of our soldiers left to investigate. Meanwhile, Baca worked to set up his firing station.

An assistant machine gunner ran past Baca, covered in blood. Baca’s recoilless rifle was knocked over as the machine gunner passed. Then Baca saw it: A grenade had landed close to his position.

“It’s like time stopped,” he later described. “And all these thoughts go through my mind. Do I pick it up and throw it? Do I stand on it? Do I run from it? What do I do? If my mom finds out, she’s going to really be upset.”

In the end, he decided to smother the grenade with his own body. He put his helmet under his stomach and fell on top of the grenade just before it exploded.

“My whole life flashed through me and my childhood,” he said. “It’s like my mom and my sisters were right in front of me. And the next moment I’m on my back, and I thought I was severed in half. . . . I saw my stomach coming out and it just didn’t look good. But I was peaceful. There was no pain. It was the most beautiful moment I ever had in my life. It was hands holding me, and it wasn’t somebody I could see. I could just sense a presence of God right then.”

Baca is credited with saving 8 of his fellow soldiers. And, unbelievably, he survived the experience—even though Baca wasn’t evacuated for nearly two hours after the grenade blast.

Since then, the once-troubled youth has become an inspiration for others. He’s helped veterans, and he’s even traveled back to Vietnam to help build a clinic. Yet the service that he’s offered to Gold Star families has perhaps been uniquely helpful.

“I tell them about those dying moments I had,” he explained. “How peaceful and gentle. I know there were angels, you can’t put it into words, but I know they were ready to bring me up into the heavens.”

Hmm. Who knows? Maybe Baca was saved, at least in part, so those Gold Star families would know that their loved ones are in good hands.

What do you think


It’s been more than 50 years since the Vietnam War ended.

It’s been more than 50 years since the Vietnam War ended.

But for the combat nurses who served there, the details remain as sharp in their minds as the needles they…

Read More


the partial remains of Andrew Comyn “Sandy”

the partial remains of Andrew Comyn “Sandy”

After 100 years of speculation surrounding his fate, the partial remains of Andrew Comyn “Sandy” Irvine are believed to have…

Read More


Atlantic slave trade.

Atlantic slave trade.

The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the…

Read More


barbaric” mob attack in Nigeria’s southern town of Uromi, in Edo state

barbaric” mob attack in Nigeria’s southern town of Uromi, in Edo state

ABUJA, March 28 (Reuters) – At least seven suspected kidnappers were set ablaze and killed in a “barbaric” mob attack…

Read More


The Holocaust (1933-1945)

The Holocaust (1933-1945)

The Holocaust A genocide during World War II, where six million Jews and millions of others were systematically murdered by…

Read More


The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever

Ole J Benedictow describes how he calculated that the Black Death killed 50 million people in the 14th century, or 60…

Read More


The BLACK DEATH: 1346-1353 epidemic

The BLACK DEATH: 1346-1353 epidemic

The estimated number of deaths ranges from 75 million to 200 million, or between 30 percent and 50 percent of…

Read More


Part 3. Cannibalism in the Chinese great famine 1959.

Part 3. Cannibalism in the Chinese great famine 1959.

There are widespread oral reports, though little official documentation, of human cannibalism being practiced in various forms as a result…

Read More


Part2. Death toll The Great Chinese Famine

Part2. Death toll The Great Chinese Famine

The excess mortality associated with the famine has been estimated by former CCP officials and international experts, with most giving…

Read More


(Part 1) The Great Chinese Famine

(Part 1) The Great Chinese Famine

The Great Chinese Famine  ‘three years of great famine’ was a famine that occurred between 1959 and 1961 in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  Some…

Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *