Mason<\/strong>
\nOur own Poetrooper has a shirttail relationship with today\u2019s subject. His wife went to high school with the young man before he enlisted and shipped off for Vietnam.<\/p>\nMarvin “Rex” Young was a West Texas native enlisting into the Army from Odessa, TX. Known as Rex to most, he\u2019d been born in Alpine, TX with the family moving to Odessa when he was eight. A few years later his parents divorced. His father remarried and moved to Anchorage, AK, leaving Young and his two older siblings behind.<\/p>\n
After his freshman year in high school at Odessa Permian High School he traveled to Anchorage to visit his father. He was supposed to return before the school year started, but family finances prohibited it. He ended up taking his 10th grade in Alaska.<\/p>\n
By the following year he was begging his parents to get him back to Odessa. His mother had already moved from town, but his sister had recently married and was living in Odessa. While he was convincing them to allow him to live with his sister the A.R. Edgmar family of Odessa offered him a room. Returning to Odessa he finished his final two years of high school at Odessa Permian, graduating in 1965.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Poe remembers Rex as quite handsome and an overachiever. By all accounts he was a standout athlete in baseball (playing catcher) and football (playing guard). A fellow pony league baseball player of Rex\u2019s, Billy Brown said, \u201cI always thought Rex could have written his own ticket in baseball, for a catcher, he had the arm…He gave his best in everything he did, whether it was in sports or in the military. Rex never wavered.\u201d Young also had an interest in art, specifically painting. His sister said his talents were so varied, \u201cThere were lots of things, it’s hard to put a finger on any certain one\u201d that he was destined for.<\/p>\n
Personality wise, he was humble, likeable, and all around a hell of a nice guy according to not just Mrs. Poe but other people who knew him in high school. He\u2019d later discussed going to Texas Tech and becoming an architecture student after his enlistment. Young was a hard working, talented young man with a brilliantly bright future.<\/p>\n
After high school he attended a semester at Odessa College. He then followed his mother when she moved to San Francisco where he took another semester at Kentfield Junior College. In the summer of \u201866 he moved back to Odessa and lived with his sister Margaret before enlisting in the Army on 15 September.<\/p>\n
Receiving basic training at Fort Bliss and then infantry AIT at Fort Lewis, Young was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, the Tropic Lightning, in Hawaii. He deployed to Vietnam 20 October, 1967. One of his comrades, Gary Young (no relation and who was a Charlie Company medic) notes that Rex\u2019s Mormon faith would have allowed him to fill a non-combat post as a conscientious objector. Gary said that Rex was proud of the role he was filling and his men respected him for it. It says something about a man\u2019s character when he volunteers to be somewhere, doing something that many would avoid at all costs.<\/p>\n
The 1-5 Infantry had been the first battalion of the division deployed to Vietnam. The 5th Infantry would remain in Vietnam for five years. By the time Young arrived, 1-5 Infantry had already received an Army Valorous Unit Award for combat bravery, the unit equivalent of the Silver Star.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Purple-Heart-Medal-180x300.jpg\")
\nPurple Heart<\/p>\n
Not two months after arriving in country Rex was wounded by shrapnel, receiving his first Purple Heart for actions 7 December, 1967. During the brutal Tet Offensive in February 1968 he was again wounded, receiving another Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal w\/ \u201cV\u201d for Valor.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Bronze Star with “V”<\/p>\n
Through his actions and his personality \u201cRex was one of the most respected men in the company, and surely still is,\u201d said Lawrence E. Marc-Aurele, a fellow Charlie Company 1-5 Infantry soldier who served with Young. Dale Davis, who served with Rex and called the man a friend said, \u201cHe was one of the finest men I ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n
With not even two years in the Army Rex Young was a staff sergeant.This was before the Army started their \u201cShake and Bake\u201d sergeants. So he was promoted on his merits. It\u2019s an impressive feat for any 21 year old to be an E-6 even in time of war and speaks to Rex\u2019s hard charging work ethic as well as his natural abilities to lead men.<\/p>\n
So it was on 21 August, 1968 that the young staff sergeant was with his company, serving as a squad leader, on a reconnaissance patrol near Ben Cui. Ben Cui was the site of a Michelin Corporation rubber plantation. It would become the site of a vicious battle between the US Army and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong forces.<\/p>\n
Several months into their combat deployment, staffing was low. Only 86 men of Charlie Company had gone forward with the other elements of 1-5 Infantry trailing the lead company by about 300 yards. Young\u2019s platoon was without an officer, the acting platoon leader was Sergeant First Class Mainor Lang, a 30 year old native of Georgia.<\/p>\n
As Company C moved through the jungle they were attacked by a reinforced regiment-sized force of enemy troops (about 2,500) who had laid an ambush just after 11am. The enemy was well prepared with minefields deployed along the left and right flanks and tunnels, spider holes, and booby traps to prevent the company from being able to escape the trap.<\/p>\n
As direct small arms fire came at them, rocket propelled grenades came flying in, destroying armored personnel carrier (APC) after APC, while indirect fire rained down from above. In the initial volley of enemy fire several men were wounded and the acting platoon leader SFC Lang was the first man killed that day. Rex immediately took over as platoon commander.<\/p>\n
Young organized his men and skillfully deployed them in defensive positions to repel the enemy attack. It was then that the enemy launched a human wave attack. A human wave is a dense formation of large numbers of infantrymen who attack in an unprotected frontal assault. The intent is to use your superior numbers to overwhelm your opponent. Despite losing large numbers of troops in an assault of this type, the goal is to get your men within the defensive perimeter where you can engage them in melee combat.<\/p>\n
As the NVA human wave came at the beleaguered company Young moved from position to position, encouraging the men and adjusting their fields of fire as needed. As he moved from location to location he repeatedly exposed himself to withering enemy fire. Because of Young\u2019s leadership, they were able to hold off the significantly larger enemy force.<\/p>\n
Orders came down that the company was to retreat. Young ordered his men back and remained forward to cover their retreat. It was then that he saw six men of the point squad that were pinned down and would be left behind. With no regard for his safety he rushed to the pinned element.<\/p>\n
As he ran through the concentrated hail of enemy fire he made it halfway before being hit by small arms fire. Shot in the head, the round hit right next to his eye, shattering the orbital socket and rendering the eye completely blind.<\/p>\n
Despite the grievous injury, Rex pressed forward, unwilling to leave his men behind. When he got to the men he ordered their retreat while he took a position in the rear to cover them.<\/p>\n
As they retreated, an enemy round found his arm, knocking him over. He came back up and continued covering his soldiers. Then Young took a third bullet to his lower leg, shattering both bones. The fight was not yet over for the half-blind and crippled staff sergeant. He literally crawled to cover. He steadfastly refused medical attention which would only slow the company\u2019s retreat.<\/p>\n
Unable to move under his own power and unwilling to let his men die for him he ordered them to continue their retreat while he provided cover. As the soldiers left him, the final man refused to leave Rex\u2019s side until the staff sergeant said he\u2019d shoot the man himself instead of letting the enemy capture the both of them. Even with all his wounds, Young seemed convinced that he would survive the battle, though he thought he\u2019d be leaving the field a prisoner.<\/p>\n
As the final man left, Young continued to lay covering fire until his position was overrun by enemy forces. C Company lost not just Rex Young and Mainor Lang that day. There were a total of 17 killed in action and 21 wounded in action, a 44% casualty rate for the company.<\/p>\n
First Lieutenant Arthur Cook (who would later retire from the Army as a lieutenant colonel after 27 years of service) was acting C Company commander on 21 August, 1968. Cook said, \u201cWhat SSGT Young did on that day was truly heroic. He allowed the rest of us to reach safety after we were so hopelessly outnumbered. I’ll remember him always in my heart. Thanks to his heroic efforts I and my fellow soldiers in the unit are able to be home with their families. My heartfelt thanks to SSGT Marvin Young and to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n
For his gallantry and heroic self-sacrifice at the cost of his own life, Staff Sergeant Marvin Rex Young was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was presented to his mother by President Nixon on 7 April, 1970. The 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment also received a Presidential Unit Citation, the unit equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross, in large part for the actions of C Company on 20 August, 1968.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/MOH-Army-274x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
US Army Medal of Honor<\/p>\n
While reading through memorials posted in remembrance of Rex Young, someone posted a message that I think bears repeating here;<\/p>\n
“DEATH LEAVES A HEARTACHE NO ONE CAN HEAL, LOVE LEAVES LIVES A MEMORY NO ONE CAN STEAL”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHand Salute. Ready, Two!<\/p>\n
Thanks again, Mason. And a special thanks to the Poetroopers for pointing us in he right direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
S\/Sgt Marvin “Rex” Young For today’s Valor Friday, Mason brings us the incredible heroism of Staff … Valor Friday<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332,74,389],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-post","category-the-warrior-code","category-valor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100230,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100227\/revisions\/100230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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