Rank: Specialist 4
Unit: A Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11B – Infantryman
Awards: Silver Star, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Selected Service
Date of birth: 24-Aug-1946
Hometown: Oxford, North Carolina
Marital status: Married to Gladys M. Brandon, one child
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 1-Dec-1965
Start of tour: 24-Aug-1966
Incident date: 26-Feb-1967
Date of casualty: 1-Mar-1967
Age at death: 20
Cause of death: Hostile, died of wounds. Unknown. Misadventure.
Jesse L. Brandon was on a combat operation when hit by fragments from friendly bomb during an air strike on 26 Feb 1967.
Five Blackhorse troopers died as a result of this incident
SP4 Jesse L. Brandon
SGT Johnny Edward Brumley
SP4 Rodger Dale Lewis
SP4 Harry Mathis Jr
PVT Carlos Medina
Location of fatality: Tay Ninh, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Oxford, North Carolina, USA
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SILVER STAR
POSTHUMOUS
SPECIALIST FOUR JESSE L. BRANDON
A TROOP, 1st SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Specialist Four Brandon distinguished himself for gallantry in action against a hostile force on 26 February 1967 while assigned to Troop A, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date, Specialist Brandon was serving as the point man of a combat patrol. As the patrol was advancing into the jungle along a suspected Viet Cong tail, Specialist Brandon alerted the patrol of the possibility of an ambush. Moving forward, he forced the Viet Cong prematurely to open fire form their automatic weapons emplacement. Realizing that the remainder of the patrol was unable to bring effective fire on the bunker, he immediately exposed himself, returning fire with his rifle and directing the fire of the point element. When his own weapon malfunctioned, he ran through the line of enemy fire, secured a weapon from a fallen comrade, and resumed an intense rate of fire on the enemy position. Only when he expended all his ammunition did he withdraw from his exposed position. While covering the movement of the remainder of his patrol, he observed an aidman attempting to evacuate a wounded man from the battlefield. Reacting instantly, he moved through enemy fire to assist him. Specialist Brandon continued to distinguish himself until he was mortally wounded. His exceptional heroism in close combat against a fanatical enemy was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Headquarters, II Field Force Vietnam, General Orders No. 509 (April 3, 1967)