27 May 2003 Captain Marvin J. Roberts, company commander of B Company, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on 27 March 27 1969: "Wounded while leading his men against the entrenched enemy positions, Captain Roberts still managed to call for and adjust artillery and tactical air strikes on the NVA positions. He then moved through the ranks shouting encouragement and giving directions to continue the attack. As his unit neared the crest of the hill, an enemy grenade bounded into the company command group. Immediately and without regard to his own safety, he hurled the grenade back into the aggressor's position, killing the occupant. At that point, hostile machine guns opened fire from a concealed position inflicting casualties upon the exposed forces. Realizing that the machine guns threatened the lives of most of his company, Captain Roberts drew his pistol and charged up a hill through a curtain of fire and hurled a grenade into the position, silencing the enemy weapons. At this point the captain was the only officer remaining in the command group. His assault carried him to the enemy position where he fired his pistol at point blank range and killed the remainder of the machine gun crew. Captain Roberts was again seriously wounded in the assault on the machine gun position. Inspired by his leadership, the men of his unit rushed the crest of the hill and overcame the remaining enemy resistance. Mortally wounded and unable to move, he continued to point out enemy positions to his company and refused to be evacuated until the objective was secured and all other casualties had been treated and evacuated." Captain Roberts died of his wounds the day after the battle, 28 March 1969. 1st Lt William Cody, 1st Platoon, B Company, 1/11 Infantry, also received a posthumous DSC for his actions in this engagement. Gary Huber CSM, US Army (Ret) gary.huber@us.army.mil

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 27 March 1969, elements of the 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, assaulted Hill 208, located between Con Thien and the Demilitarized Zone. The Battalion lost 14 men as a result of the assault, 13 killed in action on 27 March and one, Captain Marvin Roberts, who died the next day of wounds received. B Company, 1/11th Infantry CPT Marvin J. Roberts, Baton Rouge, LA (Dist Svc Cross) 1LT William D. Cody, Robinson, IL (Dist Svc Cross) SGT Louis K. Dixon, Mobile, AL SP4 Robert L. Anglin, Arista, WV (may have been C/1/11 Inf) SP4 Bobby J. Walters, Petersburg, IN SP4 Leslie W. Worl, Long Beach, CA PFC Oscar G. Johnson, Philadelphia, PA C Company, 1/11th Infantry SP4 Dimitrios G. Arniotis, Jamaica, NY SP4 Joseph J. Dobynes, Marion, AL SP4 David E. Flannery, Muskegon, MI SP4 Allison W. Locklair, St Stephen, SC PFC Everett T. Culp, Columbia City, IN PFC Leonard C. Ivy, Terre Haute, IN HHC, 1/11th Infantry PFC Rene A. Buller, Houston, TX

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