PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK PRICE IF YOU KNEW AKOS PLEASE VISIT WEST POINT.ORG CLASS EULOGY PAGE
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CAPT - O3 - Army - Regular
26 year old Single, Caucasian, Male Born on Mar 24, 1942 From SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND Length of service 4 years. His tour of duty began on Sep 29, 1967 Casualty was on Sep 11, 1968 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE Body was recovered Religion PRESBYTERIAN Panel 44W - - Line 31 More information on September 11th, 1968 |
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Hailing from Hungary, Akos is characterized by fierce pride and strong determination. The sports world knows him as a national walking champion. The Academic Department recognized him as a four year Star man, but we all know him as a humorous, amiable friend. His boundless ambition and perseverance make him a sure success in his future career
Stars: Public Information Detail 4, 3; Cross Country 4, 3, 2, 1, Numeral 4; Major A 2, 1, Track 4, 3, 2, 1, Numeral 4; Major A 2, 1, Debate Council & Forum 4; Russian Club 4, 3 |
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About mid-August 1968, Captain Akos Szekely visited the 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 5th Infantry at Dau Tieng. He hadbeen in-country for about a year and was coming off a successful command tour of a combat engineer company in the 25thInfantry Division. During our conversation he mentioned how impressed he was with how well the Bobcats were doing in taking on NVA units in our area of operation. It was the start of another enemy offensive and daily contact was the norm; nevertheless, he very much wanted transfer to the Bobcats. During this period of intense combat, we had an attached engineer platoon from A Company, 65 Engineers. I greatly appreciated their capability to deal with the many mines they found and destroyed and to fight as infantrymen when in contact with the enemy There was no doubt that Captain Szekely with his year long experience in-country would be equally successful commanding an infantry company.
Since I was about to lose a company commander due to rotation, I decided to give Captain Szekely command of a line company upon his return from R&R. He met his finance in Hawaii and enjoyed a brief respite from the rigors of combat and then he returned to Vietnam.
Operations then revolved around the villages of Ben Cui and throughout the Michelin rubber plantation. Companies were rotated in static positions not far from the battalion base camp at Dau Tieng. These positions were astride known enemy routes leading to Cui Chi, headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division. On 11 September, Captain Szekely, now commanding 'A' Company, his RTO and FO were killed outright in a ground attack by elements of the 275 NVA Regiment.
For heroic operations against the enemy during the period 18 August 1968 through 20 September, the 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 5th Infantry and their attached units were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. This award requires a performance by each soldier that would merit the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest valor award.
Captain Akos Dezso Szekely materially contributed in the award of the PUC to the Bobcats. He clearly exemplified the West Point credo: Duty, Honor, Country. Additionally, he lived up to the motto of the 5th Infantry: "I'll Try Sir." Captain Szekely volunteered for duty as a combat infantryman and gave his life in doing so. In combat men fight for the survival of one another. That's exactly what Captain Szekely did. He did not have to extend his tour in Vietnam but he did so because he was a professional soldier and a tried and proven leader.
It is on the battlefield that a sense of brotherhood is born; unit esprit de corps developed, and a trust of each other with their lives emerges. That is the nature of the brotherhood established in combat that takes on a life of its own. Shakespeare perhaps said it best in his "Henry V" at the Battle of Agincourt: "For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." Veterans who survived the ordeal of Vietnam shall never forget their fallen brothers.
Captain Szekely now rests at Arlington cemetery very near the Lee mansion that overlooks much of Washington, DC. I make that journey to his grave site whenever I am in the area. For a few moments I pause and again thank him for his sacrifice made to his brothers and to our country. Sadly and respectfully, I salute and depart, ever mindful of the high cost in human lives we paid in fighting a mortal and tenacious enemy on the other side of the world.
FRATES AETERNI
BROTHERS FOREVER
Andy Anderson
Bobcat Six - 1968
Since I was about to lose a company commander due to rotation, I decided to give Captain Szekely command of a line company upon his return from R&R. He met his finance in Hawaii and enjoyed a brief respite from the rigors of combat and then he returned to Vietnam.
Operations then revolved around the villages of Ben Cui and throughout the Michelin rubber plantation. Companies were rotated in static positions not far from the battalion base camp at Dau Tieng. These positions were astride known enemy routes leading to Cui Chi, headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division. On 11 September, Captain Szekely, now commanding 'A' Company, his RTO and FO were killed outright in a ground attack by elements of the 275 NVA Regiment.
For heroic operations against the enemy during the period 18 August 1968 through 20 September, the 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 5th Infantry and their attached units were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. This award requires a performance by each soldier that would merit the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest valor award.
Captain Akos Dezso Szekely materially contributed in the award of the PUC to the Bobcats. He clearly exemplified the West Point credo: Duty, Honor, Country. Additionally, he lived up to the motto of the 5th Infantry: "I'll Try Sir." Captain Szekely volunteered for duty as a combat infantryman and gave his life in doing so. In combat men fight for the survival of one another. That's exactly what Captain Szekely did. He did not have to extend his tour in Vietnam but he did so because he was a professional soldier and a tried and proven leader.
It is on the battlefield that a sense of brotherhood is born; unit esprit de corps developed, and a trust of each other with their lives emerges. That is the nature of the brotherhood established in combat that takes on a life of its own. Shakespeare perhaps said it best in his "Henry V" at the Battle of Agincourt: "For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." Veterans who survived the ordeal of Vietnam shall never forget their fallen brothers.
Captain Szekely now rests at Arlington cemetery very near the Lee mansion that overlooks much of Washington, DC. I make that journey to his grave site whenever I am in the area. For a few moments I pause and again thank him for his sacrifice made to his brothers and to our country. Sadly and respectfully, I salute and depart, ever mindful of the high cost in human lives we paid in fighting a mortal and tenacious enemy on the other side of the world.
FRATES AETERNI
BROTHERS FOREVER
Andy Anderson
Bobcat Six - 1968
