KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Medal of Honor recipient is set to speak at the University of Tennessee on Thursday, sharing with ROTC cadets his experiences in the Vietnam War.
Joseph Marm Jr., who retired from the United States Army, will speak at the Student Union in room 362 B/C.
Marm was presented the Medal of Honor on Dec. 19, 1966, for his heroic actions leading a platoon into combat against the North Vietnamese army during the battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam, UT said in a release.
According to the release, the battle was the first major engagement of the Vietnam War and the army's first large-scale helicopter assault. The battle was detailed by Marm's commander and War Correspondent in a 1992 book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young."
The book called it the "battle that changed the war in Vietnam." The book was adapted into the movie "We Were Soldiers" in 2002.
According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the battle changed the way Americans would see the war. According to the website, the implementation of the Air Mobile Division was a new concept where battalions would use helicopters to be transferred in and out as artillery support came from above.
This method was chosen due to the lack of roads and challenging terrain in the central highlands, leading air mobility to be the only viable mode of transportation.
The Battle of Ia Drang took place on the morning of Nov. 14. The fighting began around 12 p.m. and continued all day into the night.
"The cavalry regiment returned fire, but the enemy were dug into prepared fighting positions and many of the American leaders had died or were wounded during the initial stages of the attack," the website said.
According to VVMF, temperatures had reached 100 degrees during the battle and by the time the battle was over, 305 Americans had been killed along with an estimated 2,000 North Vietnamese troops.
VVMF lists Marm as a Medal of Honor recipient on its website, saying he led an attack against a "heavily fortified" enemy force on Nov. 14. The website said he knocked out several positions in the valley and even volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam after receiving the award.
UT said the event to hear Marm speak on campus is open to the general public. He is set to speak at 3 p.m. on Dec. 5.
