Conscientious Objector To Heroic Action in Vietnam

Vietnam War veteran awarded overdue medals
The Missoulian
MIKE FERGUSON
Jun 2, 2016

BILLINGS – Nearly 50 years after performing the heroic deeds that garnered him medals including the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, Vietnam War medic Gary Booth of Billings finally received what he’d earned Wednesday – with the help of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

Tester told a crowd he has awarded overdue medals to more than 900 Montana veterans during his two terms in the senate. Booth’s story – which Tester plans to read into the Congressional Record next week – “is the longest citation I’ve ever done,” he said, “which speaks to what you’ve done in theater.”

Booth, 71, registered as a conscientious objector before being called into army service in 1965. According to the citation, Booth’s unit was ambushed by a battalion four times its size on Feb. 21, 1967.

It was Booth’s job to brave enemy fire and run to wounded American soldiers to stop the bleeding and stabilize them until they could be moved.
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