Today our walk was dedicated in honor of :
Army 1st LT James Alton Gardner, Age 23 of Dyersburg, TN.
KIA Feb. 7, 1966 Vietnam
James Alton Gardner was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee on February 7, 1943.
U.S. Army First Lieutenant Gardner won the medal of honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.
Gardner’s platoon was advancing to relieve a company of the 1st Battalion that had been pinned down for several hours by a numerically superior enemy force in the village of My Canh, Vietnam. The enemy occupied a series of strongly fortified bunker positions which were mutually supporting and expertly concealed. Approaches to the position were well-covered by an integrated pattern of fire including automatic weapons, machine guns, and mortars.
Even as it moved to begin the attack, the platoon was under heavy enemy fire. During the attack, the enemy fire intensified. Leading the assault and disregarding his own safety, 1st Lt. Gardner charged through a withering hail of fire across an open rice paddy.
On reaching the first bunker he destroyed it with a grenade and without hesitation dashed to the second bunker and eliminated it by tossing a grenade inside. Then, crawling swiftly along the dike of a rice paddy, he reached the third bunker.
Before he could arm a grenade, the enemy gunner leaped forth, firing at him. 1st Lt. Gardner instantly returned the fire and killed the enemy gunner at a distance of six feet.
Following the seizure of the main enemy position, he reorganized the platoon to continue the attack. Advancing to the new assault position, the platoon was pinned down by an enemy machine gun emplaced in a fortified bunker.
1st Lt. Gardner immediately collected several grenades and charged the enemy position, firing his rifle as he advanced to neutralize the defenders. He dropped a grenade into the bunker and vaulted beyond. As the bunker blew up, he came under fire again. Rolling into a ditch to gain cover, he moved toward the new source of fire.
Nearing the position, he leaped from the ditch and advanced with a grenade in one hand and firing his rifle with the other. He was gravely wounded just before he reached the bunker, but with a last valiant effort he staggered forward and destroyed the bunker, and its defenders, with a grenade.
Although he fell dead on the rim of the bunker, his extraordinary actions so inspired the men of his platoon that they resumed the attack and completely routed the enemy.
We had an amazing 5.78 Mile walk today. We walked to the War Memorial Park down town and read some names of our Fallen Brothers on the Memorial Wall. We then headed west and made our stop at the “Crossville Field Of Honor” where we had the honor of speaking about what we do. We got to meet a lot of people and of course we got to visit with a lot of our brothers and sisters in arms. It was an amazing event and seeing all the flags just took our breath away. After the event we headed back towards the house and walked by Holiday Hills Lake where we got to see several geese along the bank. It was such a beautiful day for such a walk with this amazing hero. I want to thank everyone to honked, waved and saluted in helping me honor this hero. I want to thank The Lake Tansi Exchange Club for making the Field Of Honor happen and helping me honor this hero. We had 170 Honks today. It was amazing.
