Four Who Came Through

"Good God," said Lyndon Johnson, quoting George Washington's eve-of-battle prayer, "what brave men must I lose this day?" Adding his own invocation to that of the negotiators in Pans to still the guns, the President last week paid homage to four heroes of Viet Nam in a unique Pentagon ceremony, hanging the star-spangled blue silk ribbon and bronze star of the Medal of Honor around the necks of a soldier, a sailor, a Marine and an Air Force pilot. >Army Specialist Five Charles C. Hagemeister, 21, has the kind of bravery that often prompts Viet Cong snipers to single out the aid man as he moves to wounded comrades. Hagemeister raced through machine-gun fire when his platoon was ambushed in central Viet Nam in March 1967. He defended the wounded with a borrowed rifle, killing four attackers and silencing a machine gun. Summoning help, he dragged the injured men to safety through a storm of fire. > Navy Boatswain's Mate First Class James E. Williams, 37, is the unlikeliest-looking hero. He is a roly-poly father of five with 20 years of Navy service. In October 1966, in a Mekong River backwater, Williams led two patrol boats into a mass of sampans and junks loaded with Viet Cong troopers. Outnumbered and outgunned, the patrol sank 28 sampans, damaged 25 more and captured six enemy vessels. >Richard A. Pittman, 22, is a civilian now. Back in July 1966, as a Marine lance corporal, he traded his rifle for a machine gun and rushed forward to help buddies in trouble near the Demilitarized Zone. Pittman singlehanded faced an assault by more than 30 North Vietnamese. His ammunition gone, he grabbed a Communist weapon, then a pistol from a fallen Marine, driving the attackers back with his last grenade.

> Air Force Captain Gerald O. Young, 38, was attempting to evacuate an embattled Army scout team deep inside Viet Cong country in November when his "Jolly Green Giant" rescue helicopter was raked by automatic weapons and exploded in flames. His clothes afire, Young was severely burned. Disregarding his own injuries, he gave first aid to a stunned survivor from the wreck, then waved off rescuers after spotting an enemy flak trap. Drifting in and out of shock for 17 hours, Young hobbled and crawled six miles to a clearing before signaling for help.

After the awards, the President opened a new Hall of Heroes in the heart of the Pentagon's A Ring. He watched solemnly as the quartet affixed brass plaques to walnut panels, dwarfed by three huge replicas of the nation's highest military award for valor, joining their names to those of 3,206 other winners of the Medal of Honor--37 of them in the Viet Nam war.

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