Gary Ralph Schwellenbach-Barnard

BornJune 15, 1948
DiedDecember 27, 1967
Service BranchArmy
RankCorporal
Rating or JobAirborne Medic
Unit173rd Airborne
CampaignViet Nam
Military CitationsPurple Heart, Distinguished Service Cross
Honors 
Family 
Notes

Cpl. Gary Ralph
Schwellenbach-Barnard
June 15, 1948 - Dec. 27, 1967
Chico

Gary Schwellenbach-Barnard joined the Army in August 1966. He completed airborne training and medics school and was shipped to Vietnam in September 1967.
On Dec. 27, Schwellenbach-Barnard made a helicopter assault with his unit, the 173rd Airborne, near the coastal town of Tuy Hoa, 250 miles north of Saigon.
The troops jumped off the choppers into an enemy-held landing zone where the Viet Cong were dug in and waiting. In the barrage of heavy sniper and automatic weapons fire, Schwellenbach-Barnard was immediately wounded.
But, according to an account accompanying a medal citation, “with complete disregard for his own safety he moved into the most intense area of fire” and brought fallen comrades to safety. He was wounded a second time, refuse aid, and continued to help wounded men.
Schwellenbach-Barnard received his third and fatal wound while he was trying to save the life of another man.
For his “gallantry, heroism and intrepidity” the Chico soldier received a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross. The DSC is one of the U.S. Army’s rarest medals and only awarded for “extraordinary heroism.”
Gary Schwellenbach-Barnard lived in Chico all his life and loved fishing and motorcycling.
Courtesy Chico News & Review, May 26, 1988
 

 

Sources

National Archives

Chico News & Review

Mementos