Medal On Hold for La Colonia War Hero

When Alfred Rascon’s former Army platoon members learned four years ago that he had not received the Medal of Honor, they were puzzled.

A former Oxnard resident who served in Vietnam as a medic in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Rascon was nominated for the armed services’ highest honor more than 30 years ago by his fellow soldiers, who believed he deserved the award for coming to the aid of others in the midst of fierce action on the battlefield.

Rascon’s old Army buddies were certain he had received the honor long ago. But when they got together for a reunion in 1994, they were shocked to learn Rascon had never received the medal. They launched their own investigation to trace what went wrong, and found the reason for the omission was one of the oldest bureaucratic cliches in the book: The paperwork had been lost.

According to retired Col. Ken Smith, who served with the 173rd brigade, Rascon deserves the honor for his heroics as a 20-year-old, when he shielded injured soldiers from grenade attacks with his body, despite suffering shrapnel wounds in his face, leg and back.

“Without thought of his own personal safety, he time and time again exposed himself to murderous fire to treat wounded men,” Smith said.

A new nomination for Rascon--now a Maryland resident who is inspector general for the U.S. Selective Service--was submitted in February and is still pending. “We’re optimistic. We believe that Mr. Rascon’s actions more than meet the criteria for the award,” Smith said.

In the meantime, Rascon, 52, was saluted in a Wednesday night ceremony by Heroes & Heritage, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that honors Latino veterans.

“I don’t consider myself a hero,” he told the audience in a brief speech. “Anybody in combat would do the same thing for their buddies and friends. . . . We were all colorblind. We were all of different nationalities. The important thing is that we were Americans fighting for America.”

An only child, Rascon was born in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, and immigrated to Southern California with his family when he was a year old. The family settled in Oxnard’s La Colonia section, he said in a telephone interview from his suburban Washington home, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Rascon traces his interest in joining the military to his experiences as a Boy Scout. After graduating from Oxnard High, he decided at age 17 to enlist rather than go immediately to college. His Army unit was among the first to go to Vietnam, in May 1965. He returned to Oxnard a year later, and stayed until 1969, when he moved to Santa Barbara to attend community college and work part time. He rejoined the military in 1969 and was commissioned as an Army officer.

His parents, Alfredo and Andrea, now in their 80s, still live in Oxnard, he said.

With his case garnering publicity, Rascon said he is often asked about having faced antagonism in the military due to the color of his skin. But Rascon characterized his unit as “a very cohesive, colorblind platoon.”

“The guys who were shooting at you--they weren’t looking for Anglos or Hispanics, they were just shooting at what was in front of them,” he said.

Although the area Rascon grew up in was predominantly Latino, it was home to a diverse cultural community, and Rascon said he found it easy to make the transition to fighting overseas with the diverse men who made up his platoon.

“Diversity is one thing I’ve always had in my life,” he said.

In a separate development, Wednesday marked the first time a Latino veteran has hosted the annual memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery. The service was attended by President Clinton, who in a speech noted “all the incredible valor of Hispanic soldiers in our country’s wars.”