ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — At this given moment, there are 61 Medals of Honorees alive.
One of them proudly calls himself a Michigander. He's the only Medal of Honor recipient living in the entire mitten.
"It doesn't belong to me; this metal belongs to all 89 men who fought in that battle," Army Veteran James McCloughan said.
He served in Vietnam from March 1969 to March 1970. The moments from May 13–15, 1969, will forever be remembered.
"So we were being fired upon as the 13th helicopters carry 89 of us into that area," McCloughan said.
McCloughan was a medic during his time in the service, where many called him "Doc."
This medic and his fellow soldiers were sent to Tam Ky and Nui Yon Hill.
"Our lieutenant, who was the commander of our company, told the battalion commander who was sending us in that this was a flawed mission," he said. "There were 2,000 NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and 700 VC (Viet Cong) on the hill; 2,700 against 89 is not a good ball game."
All were laying down heavy fire on the private first-class medic and fellow soldiers.
"I was injured that first night; I was wounded with a rocket-propelled grenade shrapnel," McCloughan said.
Still, "Doc" was undeterred and determined to keep his commitment to his country.
"I'd rather be dead in a rice paddy than live in a hospital and find out that one of my men was killed because I didn't finish the job and I wasn't there to rescue them," he said. "I held 18- and 19- [and] 20-year-old boys in my arms. And I heard their last words. And I saw their last breath of life come out of their body. I have to live with that."
As he wears his medal, he always thinks about those moments, those lives that earned him his Medal of Honor.
"It's not mine. You never do anything alone," McCloughan said. "Every face, I remember every face. They come back."
McCloughan is credited for saving 10 Americans and 1 interpreter at the Battle of Tam Ky and Nui Yon Hill.
The "Doc" had been able to reconnect with 23 people.
READ MORE: Dr. Petras's quest to award posthumous Purple Hearts
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