Army Captain Frank Lambert's Veteran's Heritage Project, Purple Heart Edition, interview
Franklin Paul Lambert was born April 6, 1942, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although there is hardly such a thing as destiny, Mr. Lambert seemed to have the perfect background for a military career. His father had enlisted in the army at age 18 and went to Hawaii, where he married Frank’s mother, a registered nurse, in 1941. A couple months later they watched the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Frank’s father served in the military for 27 years.
After Frank and his brother were born, they moved to Texas in 1948 where he got the opportunity to watch General MacArthur as part of his post-Korea tour to the country at a parade at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. In 1957, Frank found himself in Japan. His father was stationed in Korea and had the opportunity to bring his family to Japan for one year. On the way back from Japan, Frank met a high school classmate and they began talking. Three years later, they found themselves as freshmen at West Point during their first Plebe briefing.
One of his great experiences at West Point occurred in 1963 when Douglas MacArthur gave his final farewell speech to the Corps of Cadets. Frank recalls that MacArthur gave such an inspiring speech in that quiet, guttural voice that not a sound was heard except the quiet crying of cadets and others in the audience. With the inspiration of an American legend he went through the rest of his time at West Point and eventually graduated in 1964. “It may appear unseemly, but a graduate from West Point expects a war during his career and hopes to honorably serve.”
His first assignment was at Fort Benning, Georgia. There, he completed Airborne and Ranger training. He jumped out of a few airplanes and had a few rattlesnake confrontations in the Georgia forests. Eventually his first assignment was in Schweinfurt, Germany, where he served for three years. In World War II, Schweinfurt was the city where the Germans manufactured ball bearings. For a year, Lambert and his family rented a house from a German World War II veteran. He remembered that, despite the nightly American bombings, the ball bearing plants never missed a day of production throughout the whole war.
Lambert’s next assignment was Viet Nam. As a future Infantry Company Commander, he first went to Panama for Jungle Survival School. He was taught how to deal with the things that he might encounter in Viet Nam. Although his training was primarily in the jungle, they were given one weekend off for recreation. During this weekend, he was invited to the quarters of an officer assigned there. All the homes were built on stilts and Lambert learned why as they started to walk up the stairs to the front door. Coiled around the railing was a “huge” python. Apparently, he had come from the jungle across the street and was simply resting there, perhaps after just finishing off a meal. Even though the snake never moved, it created a sense of apprehension of what awaited in Viet Nam.
When he first arrived in Viet Nam, the Army had established a new area of operations in northern South Viet Nam where the 1st Air Cavalry Division was operating. He served as assistant operations officer on the 1st Brigade staff but knew he was destined to take over an Infantry company in six months. To prepare himself, he volunteered for some missions to acquaint himself with the various activities he would experience as a Company Commander. One was the control of jet fighter bombing runs supporting ground troops. He flew with an Air Force “spotter plane” while the pilot called in the jet fighters. Another was to go out into the field with an infantry unit to observe communication and fire and control techniques. It was important he learn the skills for fighting in this type of war. During one of these “observation encounters,” he got into his first firefight. Bullets flew everywhere and the troops hit the ground…all except Captain Lambert. Their reactions were so fast. He just stood there in shock (and panic!) glancing around until he realized, “I’m actually getting shot at; I need to get down!” Reality was starting to set in that this was going to be his life in the very near future.
Once that first experience of war was over, he realized he had some issues. An old childhood problem resurrected itself. The sight of blood had sickened him since he was a young boy. As a future combat leader of soldiers, he knew this potential liability was unacceptable. His solution was unusual, but he needed to overcome this problem. He knew that all casualties and KIAs were brought through his Brigade staff area. So, he forced himself to observe the processing of the wounded and the bodies of those killed as they were transported to the rear area. He stood there and watched; eventually he was able to function normally. Unfortunately, he would need that capability for the months ahead.
Time continued to pass slowly and dangerously in Viet Nam until Frank was days away from getting his own company. He was excited but also apprehensive because the previous Commander didn’t do well in his first firefight; his troops even threatened to kill him. Unfortunately, there were numerous incidents of soldiers “fragging” their officers if they felt the officer was not leading them properly or was putting their lives in unnecessary danger. So when Frank’s first patrol came around, he was trying to determine how to do well. His unit came under fire and, while trying to determine how to maneuver his troops, he realized he had moved himself and his command post to the front of his lead platoon. The point man was shocked to see his Company Commander next to him; this was not normal. Suddenly, they came under intense small arms fire and, after a moment of “freezing in place,” they backed off successfully to join the rest of the company. Although he didn’t move at first and joined the rush away from the line of fire, he must have done something right in the eyes of his troops. Apparently word got around that “the old man was out in the front and is actually a good guy.” His men realized he would not put them in any danger he was not willing to face himself. That seemed to be the crucible by which his men judged his leadership capability and, from that point on, he had 100% support from the troops.
But being a Company Commander is not always about the battlefield. For example, the mundane requirement to take malaria pills was a mandate from higher command. No American could get malaria….ever! As a result, Lambert and his 1st Sergeant had to physically make the rounds of all of the troops every evening and watch each soldier swallow this “huge” malaria pill.
It was only the first week in his command when tragedy struck during one of these malaria rounds. An artillery battery was firing over his unit into the valley to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trail. A mistake was made when someone put the wrong charge into a projectile and it landed short into the middle of Lambert’s company. Sadly, five soldiers were killed and twenty-three were wounded. In one second, an entire platoon was destroyed and one third of the company’s capability erased. This accident from friendly fire was devastating because it occurred right in the middle of the company position and all the troops saw body parts and the horrible wounds of the survivors. It was difficult to maintain the morale of the surviving troops. It took weeks to integrate new, inexperienced replacements before the company was effective and combat ready again.
The next tragedy occurred when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. The mortar platoon was composed of all-black soldiers, including an excellent black platoon sergeant. When they got the news, Lambert remembers that these troops quietly separated themselves from the rest of the platoon. It is important to maintain unit integrity and this was not a good sign. Lambert called the platoon sergeant and asked if there was going to be a problem. The platoon sergeant assured him that they just needed a little time to themselves and everything would be fine. True to his word, the platoon was back at work the next day supporting the Company patrols out in the jungle. Lambert recalls this platoon as his best platoon and credits them for providing accurate mortar fire whenever they were needed, but, for a day, it seemed possible to have a racial problem in the middle of the Viet Nam jungle.
Next…..Ti Ti Woods was an experience that Lambert will forever remember. The TET offensive started in the spring of 1968 and the North Vietnamese army had invaded South Viet Nam and set up one of their regimental headquarters in this area (known as Ti Ti Woods) just north of the religious city of Hué. Here, Captain Lambert earned his Silver Star.
The Battalion mission was to take this area so the American troops could move toward Hué and free the city. Three companies maneuvered through a dry rice paddy. As they moved forward, they came under intense enemy fire from unseen trenches dug at the far edge of the rice paddies. Companies B and C troops actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The Battalion had moved into a trap and was suffering many casualties. The enemy just stuck their rifles out of the trench and fired automatic fire without even looking up to see where they were firing. Lambert’s company, Company D, was only 30 feet away from some of the trenches. Orders were given to retreat as bullets were hitting the ground everywhere. Amazingly, none of the troops were hit as Lambert ordered them to move toward another trench line to get out of the line of fire. When they reached the trench, he checked with the platoon leaders for their status. They reported that five men had been killed and one was missing. As they moved down the trench line, they heard one of the troops crying out from the middle of the rice paddy. He was the missing trooper and his name was Hernandez. He was unable to crawl to the trench line because of his leg wounds and he was still receiving enemy fire.
After calling for a volunteer to get Hernandez, Captain Lambert realized everyone was paralyzed with fear and not willing to go out into the rice paddy under fire. There was no time to waste so he stripped off his equipment except for his helmet and flak jacket, yelled at everyone to support him by fire, and crawled out to get Hernandez. Hernandez was a big man and, at first, Lambert couldn’t move him. Then adrenaline must have kicked in and he was able to pull him back to the trench and safety. This was probably not what higher command wanted from a Company Commander but someone had to do it and no one else was moving. It goes without saying that his men looked up to him even more after that incident. The best news was that Hernandez survived and made it out of Viet Nam.
The Battalion retreated away from Ti Ti Woods to reorganize and determine how and when to go back in after the enemy. During this time, everyone knew there were five American bodies still out in the rice paddy. They could see them through binoculars; they were very close to the enemy trench lines. Lambert believed “you never leave Americans on the battlefield” and decided to send a patrol to retrieve them. This was going to be a dangerous mission. He assigned a Lieutenant to lead the patrol and observed his briefing of the other four men going with him. The Lieutenant was nervous, lacked confidence in the mission, and the men looked as though they didn’t trust him. Captain Lambert took over and relieved the Lieutenant on the spot.
Unfortunately, the patrol was unable to retrieve the bodies. They were able to move undetected and tie a rope to one of the bodies. They had all been severely burned. As they tried to pull one body, however, the arm came off. Realizing the proximity to the enemy and difficulty of the task, Lambert ordered the mission terminated and moved the patrol safely back to their company positions. When viewing the bodies the next morning, they observed the North Vietnamese had buried them above ground. Apparently, they respected the dead and have a tradition of immediate burial. They were later recovered, but Lambert will never forget this simple act of civility in the midst of all the madness of war.
As the weeks passed, the Battalion was assigned as part of a major offensive to relieve the Marines at Khe Sahn. Company D had been out in the jungle for weeks with no clean clothes or fresh food. This had become very stressful for the younger troops. Teenagers have acne no matter where they are and “we were having a problem. We needed to get clean. We were only getting enough water to drink and couldn’t afford to use any for washing.” Lambert looked out around their perimeter; he saw a steep slope leading down to a river. He told his men, “Boys, we are going to get clean.” The team went toward the cliff and made the one-day trek down to a river. When they got to the bottom, they each stood guard as the other person stripped down and jumped in to get clean.
Eventually it was Mitchell, the radio operator’s, turn. When Lambert looked up, he saw Mitchell floating down the river. He explained it this way. “Mitchell is from Alabama. Mitchell can’t swim.” Frank then noticed Mitchell going under and jumped into the river, where he was able to swim under him and used his Red Cross training to swim back to shore. For this action he got the Soldier’s Medal. This is the highest non-combat award and is only given when a life has been saved.
From Khe Sahn to the Ashau Valley! The 1st Air Cavalry Division went wherever there was action. And the Ashau was where the enemy had established its logistics resupply routes to the south and they weren’t about to give them up without a fight……a very big fight!
Getting into the Ashau required a combat helicopter assault under intense fire. Going in on the second wave, Captain Lambert asked the pilot if the “chopper” was going to make it because there were so many bullet holes in it from the first run. The enemy was using radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns shooting 50-caliber bullets with tracers….very scary! The helicopter behind Captain Lambert’s was shot down as it was landing. Both pilots and several troopers were killed.
After getting his entire company on the ground, the mission assigned to Company D was to move down the main road to secure the area to prevent the North Vietnamese from using it. Everything went well that first day. However, one of the platoons was ambushed the second day. It became a mess when the platoon leader, a Second Lieutenant, was found screaming and out of control. He had thrown away his gear, including his rifle, and was lying on the ground in a fetal position. “Get this s.o.b. out of here,” Lambert yelled. He assigned one of the sergeants to be the platoon leader and spent the rest of the day breaking contact with the enemy and reestablishing their position on the road.
April 25, 1968, was a fateful day for Captain Lambert. This was to be his last day as the Company D Commander.
Despite Lambert’s objections, the Battalion Commander ordered him to make contact with the enemy and drive them from their positions on the road. This order came with two problems. One, the enemy was so entrenched that any attack had to be made through the thick jungle. Two, the platoon leader given the mission was a brand new second lieutenant who had just come into country with no experience. Lambert made the decision to go with the platoon to support them. A Company Commander would not normally maneuver with only one platoon, but he felt he needed to be there to help this new officer.
The terrain was difficult and the platoon did not get to the objective until 5 p.m. as the sun was setting. They discovered communications wire and knew a large unit had to be in the area. They came to the edge of the jungle and believed they were very close to the enemy. It was eerily quiet! Lambert decided to split the unit, with the platoon leader maneuvering to the left of this small mound, and he would move to the right.
As the second lieutenant moved out, he was immediately killed. The “small mound” turned out to be the backside of an enemy bunker facing the road. Small fire erupted and grenades were being thrown at them. Since Lambert and his troops were exposed, he decided they needed to move quickly through some bomb craters to cover behind some trees. He led the way. Just as he came up out of the first crater, he was shot in the leg. Apparently, he was running directly at an enemy rifleman and didn’t see him. After being knocked down by the first bullet, Lambert started crawling for the first tree. A second bullet just missed the back of his head and split his buttocks open like a watermelon. His medic, Doc McBride, ran to his aide, gave him morphine, and then was shot in his hip, rendering him helpless. Lambert passed out.
When he regained consciousness, it was again very quiet. The sun had set. Neither of Lambert’s radio operators (RTOs) had been wounded and had bravely stayed by his side communicating with the Battalion. They were isolated with the enemy between them and the rest of Company D and the battalion. Lambert had no idea how they were going to survive when the sun came up in the morning and the enemy saw their situation.
Then the strangest thing happened. It was quiet and it was dark and everyone thought, “This is it,” when a shot rang out, following by a grenade and some screams. They seemed to be coming up the road. Over the next few hours, this happened over and over and was getting closer and closer. Finally, a head appeared from behind a tree saying, “You guys okay?”
It was First Lieutenant Mike Sprayberry, Company D’s Executive Officer. By himself, he had killed 12 of the enemy by moving down the road where the enemy had bunker positions. It had taken him over 7 hours to get to the surrounded platoon and Captain Lambert. It was a scene out of an Audie Murphy movie from World War II. Unbelievable!
Lt. Sprayberry supervised the evacuation of all the wounded and killed. Because of the rain, no one was actually flown out until the next morning. For his bravery and the undying gratitude of all the men, he got the Medal of Honor awarded to him at the White House, presented by President Nixon.
As I reflected on this story that moved me a great deal, Mrs. Hatch said to find the essence of this person as I wrote my essay. In my opinion, Frank Lambert was one of those men that did make a difference, one who did change the tide of the war. His life caused him to choose a military career and his military career grew as he did. I admire the fact that he was a Captain who actually stood in the front of a firefight and cared more about his men than the orders, while still understanding it was his duty to lead just as the General he had seen in 1951 did—from his West Point graduation in 1905 until President Truman fired him in 1951. Ironically, in 1951 that little boy who heard MacArthur say goodbye at the parade field at Fort Sam Houston and then again at West Point in 1963 while he was a cadet, did his duty in the best spirit of the American army. The image of MacArthur’s last days chokes Frank up to this day. “And also he [MacArthur] created this vision…that some of us were living it at that time…he brought us all together over a 60, 70-year period.” Not unlike the courage of men like Mike Sprayberry, to whom Frank owes his life.
After Frank and his brother were born, they moved to Texas in 1948 where he got the opportunity to watch General MacArthur as part of his post-Korea tour to the country at a parade at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. In 1957, Frank found himself in Japan. His father was stationed in Korea and had the opportunity to bring his family to Japan for one year. On the way back from Japan, Frank met a high school classmate and they began talking. Three years later, they found themselves as freshmen at West Point during their first Plebe briefing.
One of his great experiences at West Point occurred in 1963 when Douglas MacArthur gave his final farewell speech to the Corps of Cadets. Frank recalls that MacArthur gave such an inspiring speech in that quiet, guttural voice that not a sound was heard except the quiet crying of cadets and others in the audience. With the inspiration of an American legend he went through the rest of his time at West Point and eventually graduated in 1964. “It may appear unseemly, but a graduate from West Point expects a war during his career and hopes to honorably serve.”
His first assignment was at Fort Benning, Georgia. There, he completed Airborne and Ranger training. He jumped out of a few airplanes and had a few rattlesnake confrontations in the Georgia forests. Eventually his first assignment was in Schweinfurt, Germany, where he served for three years. In World War II, Schweinfurt was the city where the Germans manufactured ball bearings. For a year, Lambert and his family rented a house from a German World War II veteran. He remembered that, despite the nightly American bombings, the ball bearing plants never missed a day of production throughout the whole war.
Lambert’s next assignment was Viet Nam. As a future Infantry Company Commander, he first went to Panama for Jungle Survival School. He was taught how to deal with the things that he might encounter in Viet Nam. Although his training was primarily in the jungle, they were given one weekend off for recreation. During this weekend, he was invited to the quarters of an officer assigned there. All the homes were built on stilts and Lambert learned why as they started to walk up the stairs to the front door. Coiled around the railing was a “huge” python. Apparently, he had come from the jungle across the street and was simply resting there, perhaps after just finishing off a meal. Even though the snake never moved, it created a sense of apprehension of what awaited in Viet Nam.
When he first arrived in Viet Nam, the Army had established a new area of operations in northern South Viet Nam where the 1st Air Cavalry Division was operating. He served as assistant operations officer on the 1st Brigade staff but knew he was destined to take over an Infantry company in six months. To prepare himself, he volunteered for some missions to acquaint himself with the various activities he would experience as a Company Commander. One was the control of jet fighter bombing runs supporting ground troops. He flew with an Air Force “spotter plane” while the pilot called in the jet fighters. Another was to go out into the field with an infantry unit to observe communication and fire and control techniques. It was important he learn the skills for fighting in this type of war. During one of these “observation encounters,” he got into his first firefight. Bullets flew everywhere and the troops hit the ground…all except Captain Lambert. Their reactions were so fast. He just stood there in shock (and panic!) glancing around until he realized, “I’m actually getting shot at; I need to get down!” Reality was starting to set in that this was going to be his life in the very near future.
Once that first experience of war was over, he realized he had some issues. An old childhood problem resurrected itself. The sight of blood had sickened him since he was a young boy. As a future combat leader of soldiers, he knew this potential liability was unacceptable. His solution was unusual, but he needed to overcome this problem. He knew that all casualties and KIAs were brought through his Brigade staff area. So, he forced himself to observe the processing of the wounded and the bodies of those killed as they were transported to the rear area. He stood there and watched; eventually he was able to function normally. Unfortunately, he would need that capability for the months ahead.
Time continued to pass slowly and dangerously in Viet Nam until Frank was days away from getting his own company. He was excited but also apprehensive because the previous Commander didn’t do well in his first firefight; his troops even threatened to kill him. Unfortunately, there were numerous incidents of soldiers “fragging” their officers if they felt the officer was not leading them properly or was putting their lives in unnecessary danger. So when Frank’s first patrol came around, he was trying to determine how to do well. His unit came under fire and, while trying to determine how to maneuver his troops, he realized he had moved himself and his command post to the front of his lead platoon. The point man was shocked to see his Company Commander next to him; this was not normal. Suddenly, they came under intense small arms fire and, after a moment of “freezing in place,” they backed off successfully to join the rest of the company. Although he didn’t move at first and joined the rush away from the line of fire, he must have done something right in the eyes of his troops. Apparently word got around that “the old man was out in the front and is actually a good guy.” His men realized he would not put them in any danger he was not willing to face himself. That seemed to be the crucible by which his men judged his leadership capability and, from that point on, he had 100% support from the troops.
But being a Company Commander is not always about the battlefield. For example, the mundane requirement to take malaria pills was a mandate from higher command. No American could get malaria….ever! As a result, Lambert and his 1st Sergeant had to physically make the rounds of all of the troops every evening and watch each soldier swallow this “huge” malaria pill.
It was only the first week in his command when tragedy struck during one of these malaria rounds. An artillery battery was firing over his unit into the valley to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trail. A mistake was made when someone put the wrong charge into a projectile and it landed short into the middle of Lambert’s company. Sadly, five soldiers were killed and twenty-three were wounded. In one second, an entire platoon was destroyed and one third of the company’s capability erased. This accident from friendly fire was devastating because it occurred right in the middle of the company position and all the troops saw body parts and the horrible wounds of the survivors. It was difficult to maintain the morale of the surviving troops. It took weeks to integrate new, inexperienced replacements before the company was effective and combat ready again.
The next tragedy occurred when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. The mortar platoon was composed of all-black soldiers, including an excellent black platoon sergeant. When they got the news, Lambert remembers that these troops quietly separated themselves from the rest of the platoon. It is important to maintain unit integrity and this was not a good sign. Lambert called the platoon sergeant and asked if there was going to be a problem. The platoon sergeant assured him that they just needed a little time to themselves and everything would be fine. True to his word, the platoon was back at work the next day supporting the Company patrols out in the jungle. Lambert recalls this platoon as his best platoon and credits them for providing accurate mortar fire whenever they were needed, but, for a day, it seemed possible to have a racial problem in the middle of the Viet Nam jungle.
Next…..Ti Ti Woods was an experience that Lambert will forever remember. The TET offensive started in the spring of 1968 and the North Vietnamese army had invaded South Viet Nam and set up one of their regimental headquarters in this area (known as Ti Ti Woods) just north of the religious city of Hué. Here, Captain Lambert earned his Silver Star.
The Battalion mission was to take this area so the American troops could move toward Hué and free the city. Three companies maneuvered through a dry rice paddy. As they moved forward, they came under intense enemy fire from unseen trenches dug at the far edge of the rice paddies. Companies B and C troops actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The Battalion had moved into a trap and was suffering many casualties. The enemy just stuck their rifles out of the trench and fired automatic fire without even looking up to see where they were firing. Lambert’s company, Company D, was only 30 feet away from some of the trenches. Orders were given to retreat as bullets were hitting the ground everywhere. Amazingly, none of the troops were hit as Lambert ordered them to move toward another trench line to get out of the line of fire. When they reached the trench, he checked with the platoon leaders for their status. They reported that five men had been killed and one was missing. As they moved down the trench line, they heard one of the troops crying out from the middle of the rice paddy. He was the missing trooper and his name was Hernandez. He was unable to crawl to the trench line because of his leg wounds and he was still receiving enemy fire.
After calling for a volunteer to get Hernandez, Captain Lambert realized everyone was paralyzed with fear and not willing to go out into the rice paddy under fire. There was no time to waste so he stripped off his equipment except for his helmet and flak jacket, yelled at everyone to support him by fire, and crawled out to get Hernandez. Hernandez was a big man and, at first, Lambert couldn’t move him. Then adrenaline must have kicked in and he was able to pull him back to the trench and safety. This was probably not what higher command wanted from a Company Commander but someone had to do it and no one else was moving. It goes without saying that his men looked up to him even more after that incident. The best news was that Hernandez survived and made it out of Viet Nam.
The Battalion retreated away from Ti Ti Woods to reorganize and determine how and when to go back in after the enemy. During this time, everyone knew there were five American bodies still out in the rice paddy. They could see them through binoculars; they were very close to the enemy trench lines. Lambert believed “you never leave Americans on the battlefield” and decided to send a patrol to retrieve them. This was going to be a dangerous mission. He assigned a Lieutenant to lead the patrol and observed his briefing of the other four men going with him. The Lieutenant was nervous, lacked confidence in the mission, and the men looked as though they didn’t trust him. Captain Lambert took over and relieved the Lieutenant on the spot.
Unfortunately, the patrol was unable to retrieve the bodies. They were able to move undetected and tie a rope to one of the bodies. They had all been severely burned. As they tried to pull one body, however, the arm came off. Realizing the proximity to the enemy and difficulty of the task, Lambert ordered the mission terminated and moved the patrol safely back to their company positions. When viewing the bodies the next morning, they observed the North Vietnamese had buried them above ground. Apparently, they respected the dead and have a tradition of immediate burial. They were later recovered, but Lambert will never forget this simple act of civility in the midst of all the madness of war.
As the weeks passed, the Battalion was assigned as part of a major offensive to relieve the Marines at Khe Sahn. Company D had been out in the jungle for weeks with no clean clothes or fresh food. This had become very stressful for the younger troops. Teenagers have acne no matter where they are and “we were having a problem. We needed to get clean. We were only getting enough water to drink and couldn’t afford to use any for washing.” Lambert looked out around their perimeter; he saw a steep slope leading down to a river. He told his men, “Boys, we are going to get clean.” The team went toward the cliff and made the one-day trek down to a river. When they got to the bottom, they each stood guard as the other person stripped down and jumped in to get clean.
Eventually it was Mitchell, the radio operator’s, turn. When Lambert looked up, he saw Mitchell floating down the river. He explained it this way. “Mitchell is from Alabama. Mitchell can’t swim.” Frank then noticed Mitchell going under and jumped into the river, where he was able to swim under him and used his Red Cross training to swim back to shore. For this action he got the Soldier’s Medal. This is the highest non-combat award and is only given when a life has been saved.
From Khe Sahn to the Ashau Valley! The 1st Air Cavalry Division went wherever there was action. And the Ashau was where the enemy had established its logistics resupply routes to the south and they weren’t about to give them up without a fight……a very big fight!
Getting into the Ashau required a combat helicopter assault under intense fire. Going in on the second wave, Captain Lambert asked the pilot if the “chopper” was going to make it because there were so many bullet holes in it from the first run. The enemy was using radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns shooting 50-caliber bullets with tracers….very scary! The helicopter behind Captain Lambert’s was shot down as it was landing. Both pilots and several troopers were killed.
After getting his entire company on the ground, the mission assigned to Company D was to move down the main road to secure the area to prevent the North Vietnamese from using it. Everything went well that first day. However, one of the platoons was ambushed the second day. It became a mess when the platoon leader, a Second Lieutenant, was found screaming and out of control. He had thrown away his gear, including his rifle, and was lying on the ground in a fetal position. “Get this s.o.b. out of here,” Lambert yelled. He assigned one of the sergeants to be the platoon leader and spent the rest of the day breaking contact with the enemy and reestablishing their position on the road.
April 25, 1968, was a fateful day for Captain Lambert. This was to be his last day as the Company D Commander.
Despite Lambert’s objections, the Battalion Commander ordered him to make contact with the enemy and drive them from their positions on the road. This order came with two problems. One, the enemy was so entrenched that any attack had to be made through the thick jungle. Two, the platoon leader given the mission was a brand new second lieutenant who had just come into country with no experience. Lambert made the decision to go with the platoon to support them. A Company Commander would not normally maneuver with only one platoon, but he felt he needed to be there to help this new officer.
The terrain was difficult and the platoon did not get to the objective until 5 p.m. as the sun was setting. They discovered communications wire and knew a large unit had to be in the area. They came to the edge of the jungle and believed they were very close to the enemy. It was eerily quiet! Lambert decided to split the unit, with the platoon leader maneuvering to the left of this small mound, and he would move to the right.
As the second lieutenant moved out, he was immediately killed. The “small mound” turned out to be the backside of an enemy bunker facing the road. Small fire erupted and grenades were being thrown at them. Since Lambert and his troops were exposed, he decided they needed to move quickly through some bomb craters to cover behind some trees. He led the way. Just as he came up out of the first crater, he was shot in the leg. Apparently, he was running directly at an enemy rifleman and didn’t see him. After being knocked down by the first bullet, Lambert started crawling for the first tree. A second bullet just missed the back of his head and split his buttocks open like a watermelon. His medic, Doc McBride, ran to his aide, gave him morphine, and then was shot in his hip, rendering him helpless. Lambert passed out.
When he regained consciousness, it was again very quiet. The sun had set. Neither of Lambert’s radio operators (RTOs) had been wounded and had bravely stayed by his side communicating with the Battalion. They were isolated with the enemy between them and the rest of Company D and the battalion. Lambert had no idea how they were going to survive when the sun came up in the morning and the enemy saw their situation.
Then the strangest thing happened. It was quiet and it was dark and everyone thought, “This is it,” when a shot rang out, following by a grenade and some screams. They seemed to be coming up the road. Over the next few hours, this happened over and over and was getting closer and closer. Finally, a head appeared from behind a tree saying, “You guys okay?”
It was First Lieutenant Mike Sprayberry, Company D’s Executive Officer. By himself, he had killed 12 of the enemy by moving down the road where the enemy had bunker positions. It had taken him over 7 hours to get to the surrounded platoon and Captain Lambert. It was a scene out of an Audie Murphy movie from World War II. Unbelievable!
Lt. Sprayberry supervised the evacuation of all the wounded and killed. Because of the rain, no one was actually flown out until the next morning. For his bravery and the undying gratitude of all the men, he got the Medal of Honor awarded to him at the White House, presented by President Nixon.
As I reflected on this story that moved me a great deal, Mrs. Hatch said to find the essence of this person as I wrote my essay. In my opinion, Frank Lambert was one of those men that did make a difference, one who did change the tide of the war. His life caused him to choose a military career and his military career grew as he did. I admire the fact that he was a Captain who actually stood in the front of a firefight and cared more about his men than the orders, while still understanding it was his duty to lead just as the General he had seen in 1951 did—from his West Point graduation in 1905 until President Truman fired him in 1951. Ironically, in 1951 that little boy who heard MacArthur say goodbye at the parade field at Fort Sam Houston and then again at West Point in 1963 while he was a cadet, did his duty in the best spirit of the American army. The image of MacArthur’s last days chokes Frank up to this day. “And also he [MacArthur] created this vision…that some of us were living it at that time…he brought us all together over a 60, 70-year period.” Not unlike the courage of men like Mike Sprayberry, to whom Frank owes his life.