Rank: First Lieutenant
Unit: I Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 1204 – Armored Reconnaissance Unit Commander
Awards: Silver Star, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Unit awards: Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 20-Apr-1945
Hometown: Briarcliff Manor, New York
Marital status: Married to Adrianne N. Deusebio
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: Unknown
Start of tour: 22-Aug-1967
Incident date: 12-Mar-1968
Date of casualty: 18-Mar-1968
Age at death: 22
Cause of death: Hostile, died of wounds. Small Arms Fire. Gun or small arms fire.
Frank Cesare Deusebio died as the result of gunshot wound causing quadriplegic respiratory paralysis received when he engaged hostile force in firefight while on combat operation 12 Mar 1968. / (Individual transported to 24th Evacuation Hospital, Long Binh, where he later expired.)
Two Blackhorse troopers died as a result of this incident:
1LT Frank Cesare Deusebio
CPT Donald Robert Robison
Location of fatality: Kien Hoa, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York, USA
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SILVER STAR
POSTHUMOUS
FIRST LIEUTENANT FRANK CESARE DEUSEBIO, ARMOR
12 MARCH 1968
I TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
First Lieutenant Deusebio distinguished himself for gallantry in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. First Lieutenant Deusebio distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 12 March 1968, while serving as a Platoon Leader with Troop I, 3d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. While on a reconnaissance in force mission near Duc Hoa, Lieutenant Deusebio’s platoon came under an intense volume of highly accurate hostile fire from an entrenched battalion of Viet Cong. He immediately deployed his men and maneuvered against the determined insurgent force. Leading the assault, Lieutenant Deusebio continually exposed himself to intense anti-tank, automatic and semi-automatic weapons fire in order to effectively direct his element. Observing that one of his vehicles had been hit by anti-tank fire and the entire crew wounded, he ordered his track to move in front of the wreck so as to protect the casualties during their evacuation. Once the wounded had been removed, Lieutenant Deusebio again moved his vehicle to the assault. While nearing a fortified position, Lieutenant Deusebio was mortally wounded by a sudden burst of automatic weapons fire. Lieutenant Deusebio’s extraordinary heroism in close combat against a numerically superior Viet Cong force was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 2395 (April 12, 1968)