Vietnam Vet, Charles "Larry" Deibert honored by Oregon Army National Guard

This is one incredible story about a hero Vietnam Vet!

Oregon Guard aviator, who saved Marines in Vietnam, honored with Salem building
Friday, August 27, 2010
Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian


For decades, as he aged into a salesman with silver hair and a golden touch, no one knew the story, except the men he served with, and the men he saved.

Today, the two groups will meet in Salem so the rest of Oregon will know how Charles "Larry" Deibert flew a two-seater Cessna into history over South Vietnam.

The Oregon Army National Guard will dedicate its new $14.8 million aviation center to Deibert, the most decorated living Oregon Guard aviator. The center is the hub for the Guard's 12 search-and-rescue Blackhawks, firefighting and the civil support team that responds to chemical, biologic or nuclear attacks. It replaces a double-wide trailer and a hangar.

On hand to celebrate will be 76 of the 3rd Battalion/26th Regiment Marines, who arrived in Portland Wednesday for a reunion hosted by Deibert. Their lives turned on Sept. 10, 1967, at a place called Ambush Valley in South Vietnam. More than 800 Marines were on the ground, outnumbered 6-to-1. Deibert was above, flying the improbably low and slow reconnaissance plane known as a "bird dog."

"I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for Larry," says Moe Miller, 63, who lives off the grid in rural Ohio. "And these men wouldn't be here either."

For Deibert, though, Sept. 10 was like Oct. 11, or Nov. 12, "another day." After a year in combat, he had flown 570 missions, including 73 over North Vietnam. He was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Vietnam Crosses for Gallantry, a Bronze Star, two Meritorious Service medals, and 25 other awards. He was back in the Oregon Guard and working when he was called to Camp Rilea on the Oregon Coast in 1968 and presented with the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest American decoration, second only to the Medal of Honor for his actions on Sept. 10, 1967.
Oregon Guard aviator

Vietnan veteran Larry Deibert