This cache is dedicated to Chaplain (Maj.) Charles Watters of the U
.S. Army, Company A, 173d Support Battalion, 173d Airborne Brigade.
Chaplain Watters, a native of New Jersey, was posthumously
awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery exhibited while rescuing
wounded men in the Battle of Dak To, during the Vietnam War.
Chaplain Watters was moving with one of the companies when it
engaged a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle raged and
the casualties mounted, Chaplain Watters, with complete disregard
for his safety, rushed forward to the line of contact. Unarmed and
completely exposed, he moved among, as well as in front of the
advancing troops, giving aid to the wounded, assisting in their
evacuation, giving words of encouragement, and administering the
last rites to the dying. When a wounded paratrooper was standing in
shock in front of the assaulting forces, Chaplain Watters ran
forward, picked the man up on his shoulders and carried him to
safety. As the troopers battled to the first enemy entrenchment,
Chaplain Watters ran through the intense enemy fire to the front of
the entrenchment to aid a fallen comrade. A short time later, the
paratroopers pulled back in preparation for a second assault.
Chaplain Watters exposed himself to both friendly and enemy fire
between the 2 forces in order to recover 2 wounded soldiers. Later,
when the battalion was forced to pull back into a perimeter,
Chaplain Watters noticed that several wounded soldiers were lying
outside the newly formed perimeter. Without hesitation and ignoring
attempts to restrain him, Chaplain Watters left the perimeter three
times in the face of small arms, automatic weapons, and mortar fire
to carry and to assist the injured troopers to safety. Satisfied
that all of the wounded were inside the perimeter, he began aiding
the medics--applying field bandages to open wounds, obtaining and
serving food and water, giving spiritual and mental strength and
comfort. During his ministering, he moved out to the perimeter from
position to position redistributing food and water, and tending to
the needs of his men. Chaplain Watters was giving aid to the
wounded when he himself was mortally wounded. Chaplain Watters'
unyielding perseverance and selfless devotion to his comrades was
in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
