Medal of Honor recipient Col. Walter Joseph Marm, Jr. recently visited Arlington National Cemetery to participate in an Army Full Honors Wreath Ceremony in recognition of Medal of Honor Day. After laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, he reflected on his combat actions in Vietnam, for which he received the medal.
Marm served as a second lieutenant in Lt. Col. Harold Moore’s 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) when the regiment air assaulted into South Vietnam’s Ia Drang Valley on Nov. 14, 1965. “It was just elephant grass, trees and shrubs,” recalled Marm about the battlefield.
Moore’s companies formed an arcing defense line as the North Vietnamese attacked, but one platoon leader, 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick, led his men on a flanking assault and became cut off from the rest of the regiment. Marm and other platoon leaders fought to reach Herrick’s men.
During one attempt, Marm’s men were stopped by enemy fire coming from a tall ant hill. Marm fired a light anti-tank weapon (LAW) at the hill, but as he led his men forward, the enemy fired again. Using sign language, Marm signaled to one of his men to assault the ant hill and throw a grenade at it, but the man misunderstood and threw the grenade from his current position. It harmlessly exploded in front of the ant hill.
Knowing what needed to be done, Marm shouted, “Hold your fire! Don’t shoot me up!” and raced about 30 yards to the ant hill. He threw a grenade over it and fired several rounds from his M16 rifle. “Come on, guys,” he called back to his men, “Let’s go!”
Just then, an enemy bullet tore into his left jaw. “It shattered this jaw,” recalled Marm, pointing to a small scar on his left cheek, “and deflected downward. Another inch and it would have hit my jugular.”
Wounded and bleeding, Marm worked his way to the rear to be transported to a field hospital. His bravery and heroism were not lost on his counterparts. The next day, fellow platoon leader 2nd Lt. Dennis Deal found 12 enemy dead behind the ant hill and said, “Joe Marm saved my life and the lives of many others.”
Despite receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions, Marm returned to Vietnam for another tour of duty. “I hated war, but all my contemporaries were going back,” he said. He remained in the Army, reaching the rank of colonel.
Over the years, Marm has often visited Arlington National Cemetery for funerals and ceremonies. He attended Audie Murphy’s funeral in 1971. In 1984, he marched with another Army Medal of Honor recipient to the cemetery to bury the Vietnam War Unknown Soldier. “Two former Vietnam POWs walked behind the caisson,” he recalled. “It was very nice.”
Looking out over the fields of headstones, Marm listed some of his friends buried at the cemetery, and one who’s funeral he plans to attend. “I told my wife that I’d like to be buried here, too,” he reflected.
