Vietnam Hero Dolby’s passing leaves 87

   

David C. Dolby, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War for a single-handed attack on enemy positions that saved the lives of fellow soldiers during a four-hour firefight, died Aug. 6 in Spirit Lake, Idaho. He was 64 and lived in Royersford, Pa.

The five-tour Vietnam, veterans died in his sleep while on a vacation, his brother, Dan, said.

Specialist Fourth Class Dolby was a machine-gunner with a platoon that came under fire on May 21, 1966, while advancing on a ridge in the Central Highlands

Six members of the platoon were killed instantly and others were wounded, including the platoon leader, who was dying but able to order Specialist Dolby to withdraw the soldiers still exposed.

Assisting the wounded and carrying one of the men to safety, Specialist Dolby fired until he ran out of ammunition, reloaded and killed three enemy machine-gunners while under intense attack. He crawled within 54 yards of enemy bunkers and tossed smoke grenades to mark them for air strikes and he also directed artillery fire.

Having been promoted to sergeant, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Sept. 28, 1967. The citation noted his “actions of unsurpassed valor during four hours of intense combat.

Dolby relived that battle in the Highlands 36 years later when he was invited to take part in a ceremony in Essex Fells, N.J., to honor Lt. Robert H. Crum Jr., his platoon leader. “He died in my arms,”

Dolby told The Star-Ledger of Newark. “His last words were: ‘How are my men? Don’t leave any of my men.’

Dolby was subsequently promoted to sergeant and awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle. The medal was formally presented to him by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 28, 1967.

In addition to the 1965–66 tour in which he earned the Medal of Honor, Dolby (who insisted on returning to combat repeatedly) was deployed four more times to Vietnam.

Below, Specialist Dolby meets former President and Gen. Ike Eisenhower not long after being awarded The Medal. 

In 1967 he served there with the 101st Airborne Division, in 1969 with the 75th Ranger Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, in 1970 as an advisor to the Vietnamese Rangers, and in 1971 as an advisor to the Royal Cambodian Army.

Dolby returned to Vietnam in 1974 to bring his fiancée Xuan back to the United States; they married but had no children. After his wife's death in 1987, he lived quietly in southeastern Pennsylvania until he passed away Aug. 6.

His passing reducers the number of living Recipients of the Medal of Honor to 87.