Silver stars long overdue.(Vietnam veterans' heroism recognized long after)

It was November 29, 1967, near the peak of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War. Jim C. Pittman was one of two "point men" (the lead position) in an Army patrol making its way through the dense Vietnamese jungle. Along the Dong Nai River bank, the soldiers suddenly came across a small party of Viet Cong soldiers and in the fighting that ensued killed five of the VC. However, two Viet Cong holed up in a tunnel in the bank still returned fire.

In an interview reported by AP in March of this year, retired Colonel William S. Schroeder explained the action. At the time of the firefight, Schroeder was in a helicopter hovering above the engagement: "Pittman jumped down the bank and sprayed the area with his M16, killing two more [Communist Viet Cong].... He looked up at me and moved his hand across his throat to indicate the VC were dead. Pittman then stiffened and I knew he had been hit."

It was at this point that George "Doc" Hauer, an 18-year-old Army medic, came to Pittman's rescue. With enemy machine gun fire spraying the area, Uauer ran down the riverbank with his medical kit and covered Pittman's body with his own. Years later, Schroeder told the Associated Press: "It was one of the most heroic actions I've ever seen."

Watching the scene from above, Colonel Schroeder fired back at the Viet Cong and attempted to rescue the pair of soldiers. When he could not get into the proper position, he radioed for a Medivac helicopter. Hauer helped get the wounded Pittman aboard the Medivac copter and thought that was the last he would see of the man whose life he had saved.

After the engagement, Schroeder took the young medic aside and showed him the machine gun a Viet Cong soldier had trained on him. Its firing mechanism had jammed. Schroeder gave Hauer the bullet that "had his name on it" and told the medic he would put ...