Page 13 - Mariner-Summer-2023 Volume-66-Issue-2

An enemy trench was laying down heavy fire so it became
Barnum neutralized the closest enemy. The Marines were
still cut off from their battalion, so Barnum ran across
the open ground to get to a place where he could use the
radio. He managed to get two helicopters to help.

He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire so he
could physically point out the targets to the gunships.
He ordered his Marines to clear a landing zone so the
helicopters could evacuate the wounded, destroying all
their inoperable or useless gear to lighten their loads.
Barnum's Marines booked it across 500 meters of open
rice paddy to make it to the relative safety of the vil-
lage. Over the next 45 minutes, the Marines moved
squad by squad across the difficult terrain under enemy
fire. All his Marines made it and were evacuated from
the village. Medal of Honor Recipient and retired Marine Corps Col. Harvey
Barnum speaks during the 2013 USO Gala in Washington, D.C.
A few days later, Barnum was informed that he had been (U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Tia Dufour)
recommended for the Medal of Honor for his actions at
Ky Phu. He hadn't been in Vietnam for even a month at
that time. The medal was presented to him on Feb. 27,
1967, in Washington, D.C.

In October 1968, Capt. Harvey Barnum deployed to
Vietnam for a full tour, commanding the same artillery
he'd led out of a North Vietnamese turkey shoot nearly
three years prior before retiring from the Marine Corps
in 1989. He learned he would be the namesake of a
guided missile destroyer in 2016. "I've worn this Medal
in Honor of those great Marines and corpsmen who
fought with me on the battlefield that day who didn't
walk off, or walked off seriously wounded," he said in a
Veterans History Project interview in 2003. "There were
no superstars, but I happened to be the quarterback call-
ing the plays."
Marine Corps Cpl. Patrick Iacunato and 1st Lt. Harvey C. "Barney"
Barnum Jr. pose for a photo while serving in Vietnam. (U.S. Navy)

NERA salutes Col. Harvey C. Barnum Jr. for his lifetime

of service and welcomes Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. into U.S. Navy's surface fleet.

The Naval Enlisted Reserve Association 13

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