2 Vietnam Vets Reunite Years After One Saved Another in Battle

Two U.S. Marine veterans reunited 56 years after one saved another during Operation Starlite, the first major battle of the Vietnam War, per PBS.

On August 18, 1965, Marine Bob Field was severely wounded as his legs were struck by mortar shells, according to Fox 13.

“I laid there for quite a while – maybe 40 or 45 minutes, and I said, ‘I’m starting to faint so I’m going to bleed out, I know it,'” Field recalled to Fox 13. 

Field says he would have perished if it was not for the efforts of Cpl. Robert O’Malley.

“Somebody cleared that [landing zone] out, and took a lot of the VC with him,” Field said. “He let the choppers come in to evacuate the wounded.”

O’Malley took out eight Viet Cong after sprinting through open ground and attacking an enemy trench, enabling his unit to get closer positioning to Field’s squad, according to Fox 32. 

“I was wounded a couple of times,” O’Malley remembered. “Shrapnel here, shrapnel in my legs, in my lungs. But I didn’t need hospitalization. He needed it first, and not me.”

For his heroic effort, O’Malley was awarded the Medal of Honor by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in December of 1966.

“Fifteen months ago Sergeant Robert Emmett O’Malley did more than fight with honor,” Johnson said at the ceremony, per the University of Santa Barbara. “In a place of great danger, he ignored danger. Wounded, he refused to consider his own safety. At the risk of his own life, he shielded other men’s lives.”

He also earned the “Purple Heart, the Navy Unit Commendation, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star, and the Vietnam Service Medal,” according to the Marine Corps University.

Field learned O’Malley played a role in saving his life “when he realized he was one of two men who received the Medal of Honor for their actions that day,” according to Fox 32. 

Since then, he has always wanted to thank O’Malley for his effort on August 18, 1965.

“That was one of the things I had to do before I died, was I needed to meet this man,” he told Fox 32. 

The men recently reunited at a VFW in Ruskin, Florida. Field, who uses a wheelchair, went to the VFW to catch a football game with some friends, but he did not know that O’Malley was there to surprise him, according to Fox 32. 

After learning O’Malley was there, Field approached him from behind and gave him an “about-face” order. O’Malley turned around, and the two caught up like old friends. 

The veterans joked as they had a few drinks and shared pictures from their service days. 

“I love you, brother,” O’Malley, donning his Medal of Honor, told Field. 

“You’re a good man, thank you so much,” Field responded before the men shared a handshake holding a purple heart.