Medal of Honor comes 44 years after machine gunner’s death

A 25th Infantry Division soldier killed in fighting in Cambodia in 1970 will be among 24 Army veterans to receive the Medal of Honor at the White House on Tuesday in one of the largest such presentations in history.

Spc. 4 Ardie Ray Copas, a member of C Company, 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 5th Infantry Regiment, was a machine gunner atop an M-113 armored personnel carrier on May 12, 1970, when his convoy came under heavy fire near Ph Romeas Hek from recoilless rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons that knocked him to the ground.

With four wounded soldiers nearby, Copas jumped back on the burning vehicle and fired back with a 50-caliber machine gun, allowing rescue of the wounded and defense of other soldiers until he was mortally wounded.

The Fort Pierce, Fla., man was 19 years old.

The Tropic Lightning News for Schofield Barracks soldiers deployed to South Vietnam welcomed in January 1970 births that occurred in December.

Among them was a notice for a girl born Dec. 15 to Pfc. Ardie R. Copas.

Copas’ daughter, Shyrell Jean Copas Herrera, in late February posted a remembrance on a veterans website to the father she never met.

"Even though you never got to hold me, kiss me, hug me or touch me I have always deeply loved you and knew you loved me," Herrera wrote. "All the amazing things I have heard and read about you sound exactly like my son, your grandson, Royce Ray Corbett, who also died at the age of 19 in a terrible car wreck. So it must be true when they say ‘the good die young’ because obviously you both were and always will be. You have always been a hero to me even without the medals. Now you will finally get the recognition you have so long deserved, Dad. I love and appreciate everything you have done for this great country and most of all what you’ve done for me. What a blessing you are to us all. God bless forever sweet angel. Love, your only child."

President Barack Obama will award the 24 Medals of Honor for conspicuous gallantry in the ceremony.

"These veterans will receive the Medal of Honor in recognition of their valor during major combat operations in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War," the White House said. "Each of these soldiers’ bravery was previously recognized by award of the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest military award; that award will be upgraded to the Medal of Honor in recognition of their gallantry, intrepidity and heroism above and beyond the call of duty."

In 2002 Congress, through the Defense Authorization Act, called for a review of Jewish-American and Hispanic-American veteran war rec­ords from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to ensure those deserving the Medal of Honor were not denied because of prejudice, the White House said.

During the review, records of several soldiers of neither Jewish nor Hispanic descent were also found to have criteria worthy of the Medal of Honor.

The act was amended to allow these soldiers to be honored with the upgrade in addition to the Jewish and Hispanic-American soldiers.

Schofield’s 25th Division sent its first troops, 100 helicopter door gunners, to South Vietnam in early 1963. By mid-1965, 4,000 Hawaii infantrymen and 9,000 tons of equipment joined the 2,200 division soldiers in the country. From May to June 1970, Tropic Lightning soldiers took part in operations deep in Cambodia.