Rank: Specialist 4
Unit: F Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 20-Feb-1948
Hometown: Markham, Illinois
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 7-Jun-1966
Start of tour: 13-Aug-1967
Incident date: 28-Feb-1968
Date of casualty: 28-Feb-1968
Age at death: 20
Cause of death: Hostile, Died. Artillery/Mortar/Rocket. Artillery, rocket, or mortar.
James Douglas Chambers died as the result of metal fragment wound received while driver of a military vehicle which was hit by anti-tank round during combat operation.
Location of fatality: Hua Nghia, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Mount Saint Peter Catholic Cemetery, Derby, Connecticut, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
SPECIALIST FOUR JAMES DOUGLAS CHAMBERS
28 FEBRUARY 1968
F TROOP, 2nd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Specialist Four Chambers distinguished himself by valorous actions on 28 February 1968, while serving as the Driver of an armored cavalry assault vehicle with Troop-F, 2d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, during a reconnaissance in force mission conducted with two battalions of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, 10 kilometers northwest of Bien Hoa, Vietnam. When the friendly Vietnamese units came under intense automatic weapons and small arms fire, Specialist Chambers immediately began providing a heavy volume of suppressive fire on the enemy positions, allowing the Vietnamese wounded to be evacuated. During the assault against the estimated 200 Viet Cong manning positions within the village, Specialist Chambers fearlessly maneuvered his vehicle to within a few meters of the insurgents, braving intense antitank and automatic weapons fire to enable his crew to deliver heavy volumes of devastating fire upon the enemy positions. During the assault, Specialist Chambers was mortally wounded when his vehicle was struck by an enemy rocket. Specialist Chambers’ personal bravery and devotion to duty were in 1seeping with the highest traditions of the mil1tamy.earvice and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 2741 (25 April 1968)