VIETNAM - HARTSUFF, LEO FRANCIS

Hartsuff, Leo Francis

VIETNAM - HARTSUFF, LEO FRANCIS
HARTSUFF, LEO FRANCIS

Rank: Sergeant

Unit: Headquarters & Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist

Awards: Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, 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: 12-Jul-1948

Hometown: East Lansing, Michigan

Marital status: Never Married

Campaign: Vietnam Conflict

Entered service: 14-Apr-1968

Start of tour: 26-Apr-1969

Incident date: 7-Sep-1969

Date of casualty: 7-Sep-1969

Age at death: 21

Cause of death: Hostile, died. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
Leo Francis Hartsuff was killed while commander of a military vehicle on a combat operation when a hostile force was encountered. / Track commander of Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) on reconnaissance in force mission.  Engaged hostile force in firefight.

Three Blackhorse troopers died as a result of this incident:
SGT Leo Francis Hartsuff
SGT Anthony Standifer
SSG Richard Jackson Swiger

Location of fatality: Binh Long, South Vietnam, XT 711 834

Place of interment: Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Lansing, Michigan, USA

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

Vietnam Veterans Memorial panel and row: 18W 054 (view Vietnam Veterans Memorial link in a new window)

 

SILVER STAR

SILVER STAR
POSTHUMOUS

SGT LEO FRANCIS HARTSUFF
7 SEPTEMBER 1969
HEADQUARTERS AND HEADQUARTERS TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT

Sergeant Hartsuff, United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force on 7 September 1969 while serving as commander of an armored flame thrower carrier with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date in the An Loc area of operations, Sergeant Hartsuff’s flame thrower carrier was combined with two armored troops in a reconnaissance mission through a large enemy base camp. As the armored elements proceeded, they were suddenly and savagely attacked by a well-entrenched enemy force. Sergeant Hartsuff reacted immediately to the hostile action, directing his vehicle into the area of heaviest contact to close within the effective range of the flame thrower. Despite the withering volley of small arms, automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fire, Sergeant Hartsuff aggressively pressed the attack and closed within a few meters of the well-concealed enemy force. At a crucial point in the battle Sergeant Hartsuff noticed the unit commander was being threatened by an enemy group in a bunker to the left and rear of his position. With complete disregard for his own safety, Sergeant Hartsuff dismounted his own vehicle and assaulted the bunker with his personal weapon and hand grenades. He attacked the enemy causing considerable damage before small arms fire mortally wounded him as he was moving toward the enemy. Sergeant Hartsuff’s gallant actions and courageous leadership 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, II Field Force Vietnam, General Orders No. 2817 (17 October 1969)