20 March

CPL TERRY TERUO KAWAMURA
173d Airborne Brigade
Camp Radcliff, RVN
20 March 1969

Cpl. Kawamura was serving as a member of the 173d Engineer Company when an enemy demolition team infiltrated the unit quarters area and opened fire with automatic weapons.

An intense explosion tore a hole in the roof and stunned the occupants of the room. Cpl. Kawamura jumped to his feet, secured his weapon and engaged the enemy. He saw another explosive charge had been thrown through the hole in the roof to the floor.

Kawamura shouted a warning and realizing the other soldiers were incapacitated by the first explosion and could not escape under their own power, Cpl. Terry Kawamura unhesitatingly threw himself on the charge absorbing the shrapnel with his body and saving the lives of his fellow Paratroopers.