thedrifter
07-09-02, 05:22 AM
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 8, 2002 -- Forty years ago, Army Capt.
Humbert Roque 'Rocky' Versace wanted to become a priest and
work with Vietnamese orphans. He'd been accepted into a
seminary, but his dream was not to be fulfilled.
Two weeks before he was due to return home, Versace, 27,
was captured on Oct. 29, 1963, by Viet Cong guerrillas who
spent the next two years torturing and trying to brainwash
him. In return, he mounted four escape attempts, ridiculed
his interrogators, swore at them in three languages and
confounded them as best he could, according to two U.S.
soldiers captured with him.
The witnesses said the unbroken Versace sang "God Bless
America" at the top of his lungs the night before he was
executed on Sept. 26, 1965. His remains have never been
recovered.
Nominations starting in 1969 to award Versace the Medal of
Honor failed; he received the Silver Star posthumously
instead. Language added by Congress in the 2002 Defense
Authorization Act ended the standoff and authorized the
award of the nation's highest military decoration for
combat valor.
Today, President Bush and the nation recognized Versace for
his courage and defiance. Bush said the Army captain was "a
soldier's soldier, a West Point graduate, a Green Beret who
lived and breathed the code of duty, and honor and country.
"Last Tuesday would have been Rocky's 65th birthday," the
president said. "So today, we award Rocky the first Medal
of Honor given to an Army POW for actions taken during
captivity in Southeast Asia.
"In his defiance and later his death," Bush said, "he set
an example of extraordinary dedication that changed the
lives of his fellow soldiers who saw it firsthand. His
story echoes across the years, reminding us of liberty's
high price and of the noble passion that caused one good
man to pay that price in full."
Versace's brother Steve accepted the award during a White
House ceremony witnessed by family members and many of the
friends and supporters who had worked for years to have
Versace's Silver Star upgraded.
Versace grew up in Norfolk and Alexandria, Va., and
attended Gonzaga College High School. He graduated from
West Point in 1959 and became a member of the Ranger Hall
of Fame at Fort Benning, Ga., and a member of Army Special
Forces.
Bush said a fellow soldier recalled that Versace "was the
kind of person you only had to know a few weeks before you
felt like you'd known him for years." As an intelligence
adviser in the Mekong Delta, he befriended many local
citizens. "He had that kind of personality," the president
said.
"One of Rocky's superiors said that the term 'gung-ho' fit
him perfectly," he noted. "Others remember his strong sense
of moral purpose and unbending belief in his principles. As
his brother Steve once recalled, if he thought he was
right, he was a pain in the neck. If he knew he was right,
he was absolutely atrocious."
The Vietnamese tortured prisoners to persuade them to
confess to phony crimes. Versace gave only his name, rank
and serial number as required by the Geneva Convention. "He
cited the treaty chapter and verse over and over again,"
the president said. "He was fluent in English, French and
Vietnamese and would tell his guards to go to hell in all
three."
Versace knew what he was doing, Bush said. "By focusing his
captors' anger on him, he made life a measure more
tolerable for his fellow prisoners, who looked to him as a
role model of principled resistance."
Sempers,
Roger
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 8, 2002 -- Forty years ago, Army Capt.
Humbert Roque 'Rocky' Versace wanted to become a priest and
work with Vietnamese orphans. He'd been accepted into a
seminary, but his dream was not to be fulfilled.
Two weeks before he was due to return home, Versace, 27,
was captured on Oct. 29, 1963, by Viet Cong guerrillas who
spent the next two years torturing and trying to brainwash
him. In return, he mounted four escape attempts, ridiculed
his interrogators, swore at them in three languages and
confounded them as best he could, according to two U.S.
soldiers captured with him.
The witnesses said the unbroken Versace sang "God Bless
America" at the top of his lungs the night before he was
executed on Sept. 26, 1965. His remains have never been
recovered.
Nominations starting in 1969 to award Versace the Medal of
Honor failed; he received the Silver Star posthumously
instead. Language added by Congress in the 2002 Defense
Authorization Act ended the standoff and authorized the
award of the nation's highest military decoration for
combat valor.
Today, President Bush and the nation recognized Versace for
his courage and defiance. Bush said the Army captain was "a
soldier's soldier, a West Point graduate, a Green Beret who
lived and breathed the code of duty, and honor and country.
"Last Tuesday would have been Rocky's 65th birthday," the
president said. "So today, we award Rocky the first Medal
of Honor given to an Army POW for actions taken during
captivity in Southeast Asia.
"In his defiance and later his death," Bush said, "he set
an example of extraordinary dedication that changed the
lives of his fellow soldiers who saw it firsthand. His
story echoes across the years, reminding us of liberty's
high price and of the noble passion that caused one good
man to pay that price in full."
Versace's brother Steve accepted the award during a White
House ceremony witnessed by family members and many of the
friends and supporters who had worked for years to have
Versace's Silver Star upgraded.
Versace grew up in Norfolk and Alexandria, Va., and
attended Gonzaga College High School. He graduated from
West Point in 1959 and became a member of the Ranger Hall
of Fame at Fort Benning, Ga., and a member of Army Special
Forces.
Bush said a fellow soldier recalled that Versace "was the
kind of person you only had to know a few weeks before you
felt like you'd known him for years." As an intelligence
adviser in the Mekong Delta, he befriended many local
citizens. "He had that kind of personality," the president
said.
"One of Rocky's superiors said that the term 'gung-ho' fit
him perfectly," he noted. "Others remember his strong sense
of moral purpose and unbending belief in his principles. As
his brother Steve once recalled, if he thought he was
right, he was a pain in the neck. If he knew he was right,
he was absolutely atrocious."
The Vietnamese tortured prisoners to persuade them to
confess to phony crimes. Versace gave only his name, rank
and serial number as required by the Geneva Convention. "He
cited the treaty chapter and verse over and over again,"
the president said. "He was fluent in English, French and
Vietnamese and would tell his guards to go to hell in all
three."
Versace knew what he was doing, Bush said. "By focusing his
captors' anger on him, he made life a measure more
tolerable for his fellow prisoners, who looked to him as a
role model of principled resistance."
Sempers,
Roger