VIETNAM - SMALL, ALFRED JOHN

Small, Alfred John

VIETNAM - SMALL, ALFRED JOHN
SMALL, ALFRED JOHN

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

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

Vietnam Veterans Memorial panel and row: 38W 053 (view Vietnam Veterans Memorial link in a new window)

 

BRONZE STAR MEDAL

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)