VIETNAM - GRAHAM, JOSEPH HAROLD

Graham, Joseph Harold

VIETNAM - GRAHAM, JOSEPH HAROLD
GRAHAM, JOSEPH HAROLD

Rank: Sergeant

Unit: B Troop, 1st 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: Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device

Enlisted by: Regular

Date of birth: 8-Mar-1949

Hometown: Jena, Louisiana

Marital status: Never Married

Campaign: Vietnam Conflict

Entered service: 28-May-1966

Start of tour: 6-Sep-1967

Incident date: 30-May-1968

Date of casualty: 30-May-1968

Age at death: 19

Cause of death: Hostile, died of wounds. Small Arms Fire. Gun or small arms fire.
Joseph Harold Graham died from wound received while passenger on military vehicle on combat operation when engaged hostile force in firefight. Individual admitted to a military hospital and later expired.

Five Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SP4 Gerald Alan Collis
SP4 James Davis
SGT Joseph Harold Graham
PFC George Francis Long
SGT John David Pape

Location of fatality: Hua Nghia, South Vietnam, XT 422 128

Place of interment: Woodland Memorial Cemetery, Jena, Louisiana, USA

View this soldier‘s Find a Grave page (opens in a new window)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial panel and row: 63W 016 (view Vietnam Veterans Memorial link in a new window)

 

BRONZE STAR MEDAL

BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS

SERGEANT JOSEPH HAROLD GRAHAM
30 MAY 1968
B TROOP, 1st SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT

Sergeant Graham distinguished himself by valorous actions on 30 May 1968, while serving as an Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle Commander with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, on a reconnaissance in force mission northwest of Saigon, Vietnam. When the armored column was suddenly engaged by a concealed enemy force along the roadway, Sergeant Graham immediately turned his vehicle and began to assault the enemy’s right flank. Disregarding his own safety, Sergeant Graham exposed himself fully in order to attend to the operation of one of the machine guns. While placing fire on the insurgents, he was struck and mortally wounded by a sniper’s bullet. Sergeant Graham’s personal bravery and devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 5124 (25 June 1968)