Hero of the Week 103

 Welcome back viewers

This week's hero is...

Lawrence Joel

Lawrence Joel was born on February 22, 1928, in the slums of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Due to his family's poverty, he was forced to live with neighbor's family for much of his early life. Although he was successful at school, Joel did not see many opportunities for him as a civilian in North Carolina. 

After graduating, he joined the merchant marines and served for one year. In 1946, he enlisted in the US Army as a medic and served in the Korean War. By the time American soldiers were being sent to Vietnam, Joel was considered a veteran. However, in nearly twenty years of service Joel had not seen any combat. Although he had treated several wounded soldiers from an accident, his combat experience remained non-existent. All of that would change on November 8, 1965. On that day, Specialist 6 Lawrence Joel would face something he never could have prepared for. 

On that day, Specialist Joel was with a small patrol from the 503rd Infantry Regiment. They were sent to the outskirts of the Vietnamese city of, Bien Hoa to search for Viet Cong guerrillas in the area. This area was part of a 120 square mile zone nicknamed, the Iron Triangle. It was a hot-zone for Viet Cong activity (they were able to launch dozens of ambushes on Americans patrolling the area). Every man in Joel's unit knew that they would likely walk into a deadly ambush as the hours of November 8 ticked by. Around mid-day, it happened.

While crossing a rice paddy, Joel's unit was ambushed by a Viet Cong army that outnumbered them 6 to 1. Caught in the open, nearly all of the American patrol was killed or severely wounded within just the first few minutes. Despite the deadly crossfire, Sp6c. Joel quickly immediately ran to save the wounded. He ran a gauntlet of enemy fire and began treating the wounds of several comrades. As he was running to the wounded, an enemy bullet struck him in his right calf. He quickly bandaged his own wound and then continued his mission. 

Using plasma bottles and all the medical supplies in his pouch, Lawrence Joel continually ran from man to man. By doing so, he not only saved more than a dozen from dying, he also kept the patrol in the fight. When the Viet Cong realized this, the trained all of their gunfire on Joel. As he was running to another wounded soldier, a machine-gun round struck his right thigh. By now, Sp6c. Joel had run out of bandages and plasma. But even this did not stop him, he crawled to the wounded comrade (who was bleeding from a chest wound) and placed a plastic bag over the latter's wound. This allowed the blood to congeal and slow down the bleeding. As a direct result, this soldier not only survived, but continued fighting. 

For the next 24 hours, Lawrence Joel and his comrades successfully fended off the Viet Cong ambush. After suffering more than 400 casualties, the latter retreated. Directly due to Joel's courage and valor most of the patrol survived the ambush. Despite being shot twice and losing almost half his blood volume, Sp6c. Joel had successfully saved 13 American soldiers from dying of their wounds. By doing this, Joel had also saved the whole patrol from being overrun. 

After the ambush, Joel spent the next three months recovering from the wounds to his thigh and calf. On March 9th, 1967, he and his family were invited to the White House, where President Lyndon Baines Johnson awarded Joel the Congressional Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism. He was the first medic to receive it for valor in the Vietnam War and the first living African-American since the the Spanish-American War in 1898. 

Lawrence Joel stayed in the American Army for another six years. He officially retired in 1973. Upon his return to North Carolina, he received hero's welcome from the city of Winston-Salem. When asked about his act of valor, Joel simply answered, "I'm glad to be alive. I just wish I could've done more. I never say that I deserved the medal. That's not just for me to say. It was just my job". Lawrence Joel died due to complications from diabetes on February 4, 1984. He was buried in Section 46 of Arlington National Cemetery.

When the time came for it, Lawrence Joel displayed some of the greatest courage and valor that our servicemen have to offer. He willingly put himself in harm's way to protect his brothers-in-arms and prevented a deadly ambush from wiping out his unit. He truly is someone to be held in high regard.

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/lawrence-joel

https://sofrep.com/news/remembering-lawrence-joel-medal-of-honor-nov-8-1965/

https://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Military-Medical-History/Military-Health-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/Vietnam-Recipients/Specialist-6-Lawrence-Joel

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/joel-lawrence

http://www.ljvm.com/ljvm/