Efforts continuing to honor Sandpoint soldier

Bill Hunt was 31 when he was last seen alive.

Leaning up against a tree, badly wounded, the Special Forces ranger provided cover for a wounded comrade that November in 1966.

He never came home.

A ceremony to honor the community's veterans, such as Hunt, is planned for 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at War Memorial Field at the war memorial. The ceremony will be followed by a lunch at the Sandpoint VFW, 1323 Pine St., at noon.

Married with two kids, Hunt had served in the military before but got out after one enlistment to return home to Sandpoint.

A logger, Hunt occasionally mined alongside his dad, Balt, on property owned by his granddad in the Baldy Mountain area.

It wasn't long after he left the service that Hunt re-enlisted in 1960 and became part of the 101st Airborne Division.

His family, along with fellow soldiers, are working with congressional leaders to award the Special Forces ranger a Medal of Honor instead of the Silver Star he was awarded after he was declared missing in action. The effort began in 2010 when soldiers that Hunt served with submitted a request for him to receive a Medal of Honor.

"According to [Special Forces Commander Tom] Myerchin, they'd originally put him in for a Medal of Honor because he got off a helicopter knowing what he was getting into, without having the right equipment, and then he grabbed Heaps when Heaps was wounded, and then he volunteered to stay behind, although he probably couldn't have gone far, and covered them while they got to safety."

Unfortunately, the request never went forward.

Ken Hunt, the commander of the local VFW, resubmitted the packet in 2020, but it got kicked back because the thinking was that a family member can't put a loved one in for a medal. However, he added that all he did was put a cover letter on the packet submitted by Heaps, Myerchin, and the others who served with his dad.

A revised application packet is being compiled so that it can be resubmitted again, this time supporters hope to garner the help of U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who has expressed interest in the effort. 

Bill Hunt was on a helicopter on his way back from an R&R trip that ended up being diverted for a medivac mission.

"This pilot was just flying two guys back to a [Special Forces] base camp at Suoi Da," Ken Hunt told those gathered at a 2023 tribute to soldiers missing in action or held as a prisoner of war. "That's all he was doing when he diverted to pick up [the wounded soldiers]. It was a medivac bird and it wasn't armed. My dad didn't have a weapon; he didn't have any equipment."

Yet his dad jumped out and loaded the wounded soldiers onto the helicopter. After he got back in, the helicopter was too heavy to take off, Ken Hunt said. 

The other soldier heading back to the Special Forces base later recounted that Bill Hunt stopped him when he tried to jump off as well.

"The last time I saw your dad, he took his big damn hand, put it on my shoulder, and said, 'I got this' and pulled me in, and Dad jumped off," Ken Hunt said. 

Monaghan threw Bill Hunt what equipment he had, and as the helicopter took off — this time successfully — he later recounted that Hunt was trying to cross an open area to connect with American troops and Vietnamese troops friendly to the U.S. known to be nearby.

The company his dad ended up connecting with after volunteering to leave the helicopter was led by Sgt. First Class George Heaps, who cautioned against the operation, concerned there was too much activity by North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong troops.

It wasn't long before Hunt connected with Heaps, who warned him to stay with him because the troops knew him. Sometime between Nov. 4 and Nov. 5, 1966, that the two Americans and the ethnic troops they were with had settled into a defensive perimeter when they were attacked. After Heaps was shot while on the radio, Hunt ran forward and drug him to safety. At some point in the battle, Hunt was shot and critically wounded.

The pair passed out, and after coming to, they found they'd been stripped of everything and left for dead. They were able to find clothes after coming across dead soldiers as well as a pistol, and slowly, they made their way toward a landing zone. It was slow arduous work.

Hunt was last seen leaning against a tree, telling Heaps that he would cover him as he made his way to safety.

It would be the last time Hunt was seen.

    Photos and mementos from Bill Hunt's miliary career. The items were displayed at the National POW/MIA Recognition Day in September 2023. The community is gathering at 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, to pay tribute to all of the community veterans, including those like Hunt who never came home.
  

    Sergeant Bill Hunt in 1964 working with South Vietnamese Rangers during his second tour