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in Roland Labonte ofAwarded Silver StarPHU LOI, Vietnam—Captain Roland C. Labonte, 33, a New Hampshire National Guard Of-fleer, has been awarded the Silver Star posthumously for combat heroism in Vietnam, Labonte, Liaison Officer for the U Bnt itmii Artillery, distinguished himself during a mortar attack on Fire Support Base Doltie in Long-Khanh Province on the night of April 19, 1969. ’Working, as liaison between Delta Btry, 2lt;t Bn, 13th Artillery, which ■; is '■ lt;t 105mm and 155mm composite jungle battery, and the ,3d Mobile Strike Farce, 5th Special Forces Group Captain Labonte was involved in a tactical . briefing when the enemy struck with a vicious motor attack. ^ */ •The Silver .Star Citation said:‘lDespitr4hc.jlintmliy;. of... theenemy-barrage;1, Captain - La-honte attempted to leach' the fire direction ; teuton to supervise- the cminiciTinj .program Which be .vh»d .planned • and eo-. .'As . he braved thefusillade, he Was mortally wounded, by Incoming mortarrounds-.1 * *The counter-mortar program which he had planned was fired by Delta. Btry arid contributed immeasurably to iiie successful defense of-the position.-. ;, Captain Labonte,-who. is sur-j vivecTby;bis wife Vivian, ■ of ‘Hudson, and his two children, Matthew and Melissa; was commissioned in August of M60 atl^ served with Btry B,.of the-;2d Bn, l?2d Artillery at Ft Bragg, N.C. when the unit was activated In lfil during (he Berlin Crisis.Promoted to Captain July 30, 1067, he assumed command of Btry B, 3d Bn, mth Artillery in September. When the Battalion was activated in May of IMS, Captain Labonte contributed substantially to the smooth transition of his unit from reserve status to active Army and was instrumental in the success of Btry B in its combat operations.In March of IMS* Captain La-Ixmte was reassigned to, Batta*... jv * * I f *Captain Roland Labonteparity he worked with Delta Btry obtaining clearances for artillery fire and directing supporting fire for Special Forces operations. ■Presentation of the S U v e r Star will be made by Major General Francis B. McSwiney, Adjutant General of the State of New Hampshire, to the Artll-
Newspaper Details
Nashua Telegraph
Nashua, New Hampshire, US
Tue, Jun 03, 1969
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Nashua P.
NH, USA 27 Jan 2020
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