Posted @withregram • @bzohistory Before joining in his father's family business, and becoming one of the richest men in the world, John T. Walton served in Vietnam with the elite recon men of SOG. On one patrol, he dropped behind enemy lines with his team shortly before surrounding NVA found them and attacked. The team leader and radio operator were severely wounded. Walton, as the team medic, patched them both up and placed a tourniquet on one of their legs while fighting back the enemy. He took over the radio and called in air strikes on his own position. When a medevac chopper arrived, the team barely made it out, with Walton carrying one man to the bird. His medical treatment, all while under fire so close he could see smoke drifting from the NVA's cigarettes, saved the lives of the wounded. For his heroism, Walton was awarded the Silver Star. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Walton returned to the states and eventually joined his father, Sam, in expanding the new retail giant, Wal-Mart. In 2005, at the age of 58, Walton tragically died in a plane crash, flying a home-built experimental aircraft. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "...on 3 August 1968 as a member of a Special Forces Reconnaissance Team, 5th Special Forces Group. The patrol was attacked by a numerically superior enemy force. One of the team members was severely wounded in the initial barrage and SPC Walton fought off the enemy while rendering life-saving medical treatment to the casualty. Later, when a grenade exploded inside the team's defensive perimeter and temporarily incapacitated the team leader, SPC Walton assumed the job of directing air strikes on the attackers. Although under constant and ravaging enemy fire, SPC Walton then administered aid to the casualties suffered as the battle continued. When a rescue helicopter arrived to pick up the survivors of the fight, he carried a wounded team member through continuing enemy fire to the waiting ship." ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #battlesightzero #bzo #history #military #militaryhistory #veteran #veterans #america #army #usarmy #soldier #specialforces #vietnamwar #silverstar #macvsog #sog #recon #famoussoldiers (at Army Recruiting Columbia, TN) https://www.instagram.com/p/CITCQZAhI2i/?igshid=14llna3v513zb
