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January 15 %u2022 2025 www.VeteransReporterNews.com VETERANS Reporter News 11cliffs than they ran into the North Vietnamese.%u201cThey were sleeping in two different groups,%u201d Kerrey recalled in a 2023 interview. %u201cThe second sleeping group -- we got there a bit too late. They had broken camp and were on the move, and they made contact with us.%u201dThat contact came first in the form of a grenade, one that shredded Kerrey%u2019s right leg and blew him backward onto an outcropping of jagged rocks. Then the bullets started flying. He put a tourniquet on his leg and tried to stand, but it was useless; he was bleeding heavily and found it difficult to move. Luckily, he didn%u2019t need to move that much. He directed his men to fire into the North Vietnamese encampment, then called in for the second element%u2019s fire support The enemy troops soon found themselves in a crossfire between the two SEAL squads.Though Kerrey could feel his consciousness fading, he continued directing his forces until they could find an exfiltration site. The SEALs were welltrained and many had previous combat experience, so they knew what to look for and how to defend it until they could be evacuated. The prisoners were successfully evacuated and provided crucial intelligence to the South Vietnamese and their American advisers.Kerrey was taken to Japan to recover and was flown to Philadelphia shortly after. His wounds required doctors to amputate his leg below the knee. When he found out he would receive the Medal of Honor, he originally didn%u2019t want to accept it, because he didn%u2019t like the culture of medals in the military. Encouraged by his fellow SEALs, he accepted it, but not just for himself. The medal was presented to him by President Richard Nixon at the White House on May 14, 1970.%u201cI talked to some of the guys who I trusted,%u201d Kerrey later said. %u201cThey talked me into accepting it for them and for other guys who didn%u2019t get anything.%u201dKerrey returned to Nebraska after leaving the Navy, resuming his life as a pharmacist before becoming an entrepreneur and, eventually, entering politics. He was elected governor of Nebraska in 1983, serving for four years before running for Senate, where he served from 1989 until 2001. He was asked to serve on the 9/11 Commission to determine how the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were carried out and how best to safeguard against future threats to the United States.The USS Robert Kerrey will be an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the third named for a Navy SEAL after the USS Michael P. Murphy and USS McFaul. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are built around the Aegis radar system and are designed to defend U.S. Navy battle groups from air attacks.Navy Lt. jg. Joseph R. Kerrey poses with President Richard M. Nixon, his parents and some others during a ceremony on May 14, 1970, in which Kerrey received the Medal of Honor for actions he took in 1969 during the Vietnam War. (Nixon Presidential Library)The USS Jack H Lucas. The Lucas is one of the latest Arleigh Burke-class Flight III guided-missile destroyers in the U.S. Navy. The USS Robert Kerrey is the most recently named ship. (Department of Defense/EJ Hersom)Members of Navy Seal Team 1 move down the Bassac River in a SEAL team assault boat during operations south of Saigon, November 1967. (U.S. Navy)