THE INTEGRITY PATH
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Gary Littrtell
Chairman & Founder
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PO Box 40124
St Petersberg, FL 33743
Meet Gary Littrell
Gary Lee Littrell is a retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major and Medal of Honor recipient recognized for extraordinary valor during the Vietnam War. In April 1970, while serving as an advisor to the 23rd South Vietnamese Ranger Battalion at Dak Seang, he held his unit together under a four-day siege by nearly 5,000 enemy troops. With all other advisors killed or wounded, he directed air and artillery support, redistributed ammunition, cared for the wounded, and motivated the troops often in their own language. His heroic actions earned him the Medal of Honor, awarded by President Nixon in 1973. After retiring in 1985, he continued serving his country by mentoring youth and speaking to over 200,000 students nationwide about the six core values of The Medal of Honor.
Experiences
1961 - 1983 Service Years
1962 First Deployment
1966 - 1969 Ranger School
1970 The Battle
Oct 15, 1973 Medal of Honor
1985 - Present Speaker
1993 Ranger Hall of Fame
2025 - Present
The Integrity Path
Military service, one day after his 17th birthday, he joined the Army and retired as Command Sargent Major, serving for twenty-two years.
Deployed in 1962 to Okinawa to join the newly converted 173rd Airborne Brigade. While he was there, he married a local woman named Mitsue. They had two boys.
Graduated from Ranger School in 1966 and remained an instructor there until 1969, when his orders to Vietnam came throughAbout eight months into deployment, then-Sgt. 1st Class Littrell was working as an adviser to the 23rd Vietnamese Ranger Battalion at Dak Seang, a base camp in central Vietnam near the Laotian border.
On April 4, 1970, Littrell's unit moved south toward the Cambodian border to search out enemy fighters and call in airstrikes against them. That night, when they reached the top of a hill, they realized they were surrounded by about 5,000 North Vietnamese troops. Littrell's unit, made up of 473 South Vietnamese and three other American advisers, was vastly outnumbered. The enemy released a barrage of mortar fire. Littrell, 25, was the only American left to fight. Over the next four days, Littrell and the 23rd Battalion fought for their lives. According to his Medal of Honor citation, he showed "near superhuman strength" by repeatedly going into the line of fire to direct artillery. The battalion pushed back assault after assault as Littrell continued to move to the most perilous points to redistribute ammunition, strengthen some of the lines that were faltering, care for the wounded and continue encouraging his men to keep fighting.
On their last day stuck on the hill, a small path for the trapped battalion to try to escape. The journey led them through several ambushes. Littrell repeatedly kept order amid the chaos and directed airstrikes on the enemy, some of which came within 50 meters of his own position.Littrell later learned that, of the 476 men he started the mission with, only 41 came back alive. However, thanks to his courage and leadership, many lives were saved.
Oct. 15, 1973, Littrell received the nation's highest honor from President Richard M. Nixon during a White House ceremony.
"I'm wearing this medal for the 400 and some people that died those four days," he said during an interview. "I'm their representative. They won this medal. I was selected to wear it for them."
Since 1985, Gary Littrell has spoken to veterans, students, and communities across the country, sharing his story and the values of the Medal of Honor. To date, he has inspired over 200,000 students with his message of courage, integrity, and service.
1993, he was inducted into the Army Ranger Hall of Fame.
The Integrity Path was founded by Gary Littrell to guide youth in building character through the Medal of Honor’s core values. His mission is to create a positive tipping point in young lives by promoting integrity, courage, and purpose.