Rank: Specialist 4
Unit: I Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Note: 1st platoon
Enlisted by: Selected Service
Date of birth: 10-May-1947
Hometown: Franklin Square, New York
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Start of tour: 31-Oct-1967
Incident date: 9-May-1968
Date of casualty: 9-May-1968
Age at death: 20
Cause of death: Hostile, Died. Artillery/Mortar/Rocket. Artillery, rocket, or mortar.
Joseph Nick D’Ambra died from fragment wounds received while enroute to a night defensive position when hit by fragments from a hostile anti-tank round.
Three Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SP4 Joseph Nick D‘Ambra
SGT John Millard Schneider
SP4 Larry Lee Tolliver
Location of fatality: Hua Nghia, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Saint Charles Cemetery, East Farmingdale, New York, USA
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ARMY COMMENDATION MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JOSEPH NICK D’AMBRA
14 FEBRUARY 1968
I TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Private First Class D’Ambra distinguished himself on 14 February 1968, while serving as a gunner on an Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle assigned to Troop I, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Private D’Ambra’s unit went to the aid of an infantry unit that was pinned down by heavy enemy fire. Upon arriving at the battlefield, his unit was hit with an intense volume of antitank, automatic, and semiautomatic weapons fire. When he noticed that his platoon leader was wounded, Private D’Ambra immediately braved the accurate enemy barrage and went to his aid. Evacuating the man to a safe location, Private D’Ambra then delivered suppressive fire on the insurgents, inflicting many casualties and contributing to the success of the mission. Private First Class D’Ambra’s heroic actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the Unites States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 2913 (30 April 1968)