(Via Milinet)
The Stars and Stripes
July 17, 2000
Top Marine Endorses Medal Of Honor For Army Hero
By David Eberhart, Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs Editor
The last thing fellow prisoners heard from "Rocky" Versace was
the
battered Army captain defiantly singing "God Bless America" in
his
cell the night before his execution.
The communist Viet Cong executed Capt. Humbert Roque "Rocky"
Versace
in September 1965 following two years of captivity marked by the
captain's stubborn refusal to compromise the U.S. military Code
of
Conduct for prisoners of war and his repeated attempts to escape
his
captors.
Thirty-five years later, in an unprecedented development, the
commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. James L. Jones, is
adding
the prestige of his office to an effort to bestow the Medal of
Honor
on the deceased hero. Colleagues nominated him for the Medal of
Honor
in late 1969, but the Army downgraded it to a posthumous Silver
Star.
The Friends of Rocky Versace, an informal group that has lobbied
in
support of the medal application, has provided The Stars and
Stripes
a letter dated April 28 and addressed to Army Chief of Staff
Gen.
Eric K. Shinseki that came to their attention only two weeks
ago. The
letter says, in part:
"[Capt. Versace] was captured by the Viet Cong and held as a
prisoner
for nearly two years. Throughout his captivity he vehemently
rejected
his captors' indoctrination efforts and attempted to escape four
times. Despite the brutal physical and mental abuse to which he
was
subjected, he never lost his will to resist. His focused
determination so confounded his captors that they executed him
in
September 1965.
"His absolute adherence to the West Point Creed Of 'Duty, Honor,
Country' provided an inspirational example to his fellow
prisoners.
Furthermore his heroic determination to resist reflected an
extraordinary amount of valor and conspicuous personal
sacrifice. It
would be fitting for our nation to recognize this by awarding
Captain
Humbert Versace the Medal of Honor," Jones wrote.
Word of Versace's heroism first emerged from the jungle when a
fellow
prisoner, Army Col. Nick Rowe, escaped on Dec. 31, 1968 and
began
telling the world about him.
"They couldn't even bend him, they couldn't break him," said
Rowe,
who went on to write a memoir on his captivity, "Five Years to
Freedom,"
and to lobby to have his friend awarded the nation's highest
decoration for valor.
"He set an example for me in particular and the other POWs in
the
camp," Rowe said in a 1969 speech at West Point. "He died for
what he
believed in. He died for his actions, but he is a man who I
believe
will be remembered, and I am going to see that he is
remembered."
Rowe was
killed by communist rebels in the Philippines in 1988.
The quest for a Medal of Honor for Versace languished until the
Friends of Rocky Versace re-ignited the crusade in early 1999.
The
medal
application so far has been screened by the Awards Branch of the
Army's Personnel Command and evaluated by the standing committee
of
four Army lieutenant generals.
The arduous process also involves scrutiny by the Army Chief of
Staff, the Secretary of the Army, the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of
Staff, the Secretary of Defense, the Senate Armed Forces
Committee
and, finally, the president.
Further developments on this story will appear on
www.stripes.com.
(The Stars and Stripes is a registered trademark of Stars and
Stripes
Omnimedia, Inc. and is in no way affiliated with the U.S.
government.)
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