Rank: Private First Class
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: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Selected Service
Date of birth: 26-Mar-1946
Hometown: Thomson, Georgia
Marital status: Married to Rose M. Hart
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Start of tour: 20-Oct-1966
Incident date: 2-Jan-1967
Date of casualty: 2-Jan-1967
Age at death: 20
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Small Arms Fire. Gun or small arms fire.
Fred Douglas Hart was hit by hostile automatic weapons fire while on combat operation.
Location of fatality: Long Khanh, South Vietnam
Place of interment: First Mount Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery, Winfield, Georgia, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FRED DOUGLAS HART
2 JANUARY 1967
B TROOP, 1st SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Private First Class Hart distinguished himself by valorous actions on 2 January 1967 while serving as radio operator for a patrol during night maneuvers near Xuan Loc. The patrol had just completed setting out mines and trip flares and were moving back to prepared positions when four Viet Cong appeared on the road. Both patrols opened fire simultaneously. Private Hart’s commander advanced a couple of feet to the site of the action. He moved with him, handed him the microphone, and began firing his rifle. Almost immediately a burst of fire hit him in the shoulder and head. He fell and pulled the microphone away away from the commander. Disregarding his extremely serious wounds, he grabbed the microphone and returned it to the commander so that the report of this action could be quickly reported. Private Hart died of his wounds while being treated a few minutes later, Private Harts personal bravery and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Headquarters, United States Army Vietnam General Orders No. 144 (11 January 1967)