True bravery is tested in battle

A Medal of Honor was awarded to Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro, who served in 1st. Cavalry Division Vietnam.

Born in Honolulu, he won the award for his actions on Dec. 1, 1966 (I was also in Vietnam at this time). As a part of C Troop, 9th Regiment, 1st Cav. Division, Kaneshiro’s small unit was attacked by North Vietnamese troops. An enemy machine gun attack killed the two soldiers next to him and wounded four others.

Kaneshiro was an infantryman and, to protect other remaining troops, he counterattacked by crawling toward the enemy forces. He threw six hand grenades and was firing his M-16 rifle all the time lying and crawling low. The first grenade killed the enemy machine gunner; with his rifle and remaining grenades, he killed the other three enemy soldiers in the machine gun position.

The question in people’s minds is “how can soldiers get the nerve and bravery to charge an enemy machine gun nest,” where do these brave people come from.” For me, I think it all has to do with adrenalin, you get charged up.

Could you or I do it? You never know until you are faced with the situation, but most don’t have the bravery to do it. Sadly, on March 6, 1967, Kaneshiro was killed by an enemy rifle bullet, just 3 months later on March 6, 1967.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran, serving in the 1st Infantry Division, and is a business owner in Priest River.