Rank: Private First Class
Unit: F Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
Awards: Silver Star, Purple Heart Medal, Army Commendation 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: Regular
Date of birth: 15-Jul-1952
Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 30-Jul-1970
Start of tour: 28-Mar-1971
Incident date: 19-May-1971
Date of casualty: 19-May-1971
Age at death: 18
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Artillery/Mortar/Rocket. Artillery, rocket, or mortar.
Mickey Daniel Lang was killed while a gunner on a military vehicle on a combat operation when a hostile force was encountered. / Gunner on Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) on combat support mission. Received rocket propelled grenade (RPG) and hostile small arms (SA) fire.
Two Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
PFC Herbert Spencer Barnes
PFC Mickey Daniel Lang
Location of fatality: Hua Nghia, South Vietnam, XT 527 207
Place of interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens, Odessa, Texas, USA
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SILVER STAR
POSTHUMOUS
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MICKEY DANIEL LANG
19 MAY 1971
F TROOP, 2nd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Private First Class Mickey Daniel Lang, United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force while serving with Troop F, 2d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, in the Republic of Vietnam. Private First Class Lang distinguished himself while serving as an Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle driver while providing security for land clearing operations in Hau Nghia Province. When the land clearing unit came under fierce attack by well-entrenched enemy forces, Troop F engaged the hostile force and succeeded in recovering the rome plows. However, two armored vehicles were disabled in the contact. On the second assault, Private Lang drove his vehicle into the heart of the enemy positions while his crew placed heavy fire on the enemy with the main gun, machine guns and grenades. When his platoon leader’s vehicle received a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade, Private Lang maneuvered his vehicle so as to protect the dazed crew and to cover their withdrawal with a barrage of suppressive fire. Despite direct hits on his vehicle, he continued to provide cover fire for the withdrawing troops. While attempting to drive his crew to safety, Private Lang was fatally wounded. Private First Class Lang’s gallantry in action at the cost of his life 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, United States Army Vietnam General Orders No. 2613 (9 September 1971)