Rank: Sergeant
Unit: I Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device and Oak Leaf Cluster, 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: Regular
Date of birth: 19-May-1949
Hometown: Beverly, Massachusetts
Marital status: Married to Sue A. Small
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 9-Aug-1967
Start of tour: 15-Sep-1968
Incident date: 24-Nov-1968
Date of casualty: 24-Nov-1968
Age at death: 19
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Small Arms Fire. Gun or small arms fire.
Alfred John Small died from wound received while commander on a military vehicle on combat operation when engaged hostile force in firefight.
Two Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SGT Alfred John Small
SGT Daniel Floyd West
Location of fatality: Binh Duong, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Louisville Memorial Gardens East, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE AND OAK LEAF CLUSTER
POSTHUMOUS
SERGEANT ALFRED JOHN SMALL
24 NOVEMBER 1968
I TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Sergeant Small distinguished himself by heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force on 24 November 1968 while serving as an armored cavalry assault vehicle commander with Troop I, 3d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date in the vicinity of Bien Hoa, Sergeant Small was serving as a squad leader in a dismounted reconnaissance patrol which was searching for enemy elements in an area of dense vegetation. As the patrol was moving through the heavy undergrowth, it was suddenly engaged-by an enemy force of unknown size which directed an intense barrage of small arms and automatic weapons fire upon the patrol. During the initial burst of fire the point man was hit. Believing that he was still alive, Sergeant Small, completely disregarding the intense enemy fire, began maneuvering his squad toward the enemy position and directed the fire of his squad upon the enemy elements until he was fatally wounded. Sergeant Small’s courage, dedication to duty and disregard of personal safety 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. 586 (10 March 1969)