The Wall › Panel 37E › North Carolina › Eugene Ashley JR
EUGENE ASHLEY JR
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
October 20, 1931 – February 7, 1968
Medal of Honor StoryEugene Ashley JR, of Wilmington, North Carolina, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 7, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 36. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 77 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Medal of Honor · awarded posthumously
For conspicuous gallantry
Eugene Ashley JR received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his actions on February 6, 1968. The official citation reads:
Sergeant Ashley's Medal was posthumously awarded to his family at the White House by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew on December 2, 1969.
His official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Sfc. Ashley, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Detachment A-101, Company C. Sfc. Ashley was the senior special forces Advisor of a hastily organized assault force whose mission was to rescue entrapped U.S. special forces advisors at Camp Lang Vei. During the initial attack on the special forces camp by North Vietnamese army forces, Sfc. Ashley supported the camp with high explosive and illumination mortar rounds. When communications were lost with the main camp, he assumed the additional responsibility of directing air strikes and artillery support. Sfc. Ashley organized and equipped a small assault force composed of local friendly personnel. During the ensuing battle, Sfc. Ashley led a total of 5 vigorous assaults against the enemy, continuously exposing himself to a voluminous hail of enemy grenades, machine gun and automatic weapons fire. Throughout these assaults, he was plagued by numerous booby-trapped satchel charges in all bunkers on his avenue of approach. During his fifth and final assault, he adjusted air strikes nearly on top of his assault element, forcing the enemy to withdraw and resulting in friendly control of the summit of the hill. While exposing himself to intense enemy fire, he was seriously wounded by machine gun fire but continued his mission without regard for his personal safety. After the fifth assault he lost consciousness and was carried from the summit by his comrades only to suffer a fatal wound when an enemy artillery round landed in the area. Sfc. Ashley displayed extraordinary heroism in risking his life in an attempt to save the lives of his entrapped comrades and commanding officer. His total disregard for his personal safety while exposed to enemy observation and automatic weapons fire was an inspiration to all men committed to the assault. The resolute valor with which he led 5 gallant charges placed critical diversionary pressure on the attacking enemy and his valiant efforts carved a channel in the overpowering enemy forces and weapons positions through which the survivors of Camp Lang Vei eventually escaped to freedom. Sfc. Ashley's bravery at the cost of his life was in the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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Citation text as reproduced in Wikipedia’s article on Eugene Ashley JR; Medal of Honor citations are official U.S. government records. See also the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and all Medal of Honor recipients on the Wall.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 77
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- October 20, 1931
- Home of record
- Wilmington, North Carolina (New Hanover County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 7, 1968
- Age
- 36
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
136 names on the Wall carry the date February 7, 1968; 42 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 18 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 37E, Line 77
- DAVID MICHAEL ANDERSONPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
- SANFORD KIM ARCHERLance Corporal · February 7, 1968
- STANLEY LOYD BAKERLance Corporal · February 7, 1968
- THOMAS LAWRENCE BEIERLEPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- EARL FREDERICK BURKESergeant First Class · Panel 37E, Line 76
- KENNETH HANNASergeant Major · Panel 37E, Line 83
- JAMES WILLIAM HOLTMaster Sergeant · Panel 37E, Line 84
- CHARLES W LINDEWALD JRMaster Sergeant · Panel 38E, Line 5
- JAMES LESLIE MORELANDSergeant First Class · Panel 38E, Line 7
- DANIEL RAYMOND PHILLIPSSergeant First Class · Panel 38E, Line 10
From Wilmington
- MCARTHUR JOHNSONSergeant · July 7, 1965
- DONALD RAY PATRICKSpecialist Four · November 14, 1965
- JOSEPH JAMESPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- WILBUR RONALD BROWNMajor · February 3, 1966
- AARON BURR JONES JRPrivate · January 13, 1967
- HILDRA MCCOY JRStaff Sergeant · May 21, 1967
- GEORGE D MOTTESergeant First Class · August 20, 1967
- FREDERICK MOLEE LOWE JRPrivate First Class · October 21, 1967
- WILLIAM OTHELLO MCKOYPrivate First Class · November 13, 1967
- RICHARD ARNOLD RUSSPrivate First Class · December 4, 1967
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. The Medal of Honor citation above is the official account of his actions. See something wrong? Report a correction.