In the early morning hours of June 15, 1969, Ken Medeiros was on patrol with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne in the Sau Valley of South Vietnam. His division had just repulsed three attacks by the North Vietnamese Army at Fire Support Base Currahee and was now scouting the perimeter to make sure the threat was over.
Then, Medeiros heard an unmistakable sound that would change his life. An enemy soldier had just triggered the detonator of a claymore mine, an anti-personnel explosive that fires steel balls into a targeted kill zone.
“I heard a click, but I just didn’t get down quick enough,” the former sergeant and forward artillery observer recalls. “The fellows I was with said I went 10 feet in the air.”
Mederios, a member of the Edward A. Ribeiro American Legion Post 40 in Plymouth, earned a month in the hospital and a Purple Heart for his wounds. “I was hit in the chest, stomach, legs,” he says. “I was very fortunate that I didn’t lose an eye.”
On Friday, Aug. 7, at 10 a.m., Medeiros will participate in the unveiling of a new sign honoring the sacrifices of local Purple Heart recipients at Memorial Hall. He will speak at the ceremony on National Purple Heart Day, where he plans to talk about those from Plymouth who were wounded or killed in service to their country, including at Hamburger Hill, a 1969 battle that was one of the bloodiest of Vietnam.
“I knew a lot of guys in the service with who went up that hill,” he says. “A couple of local guys, a matter of fact. I want to make people aware of that assault and relate it to the Purple Heart.”
Plymouth has been a Purple Heart Community since 2020, when the town installed recognition signs at a number of locations, including the waterfront. The Plymouth 250th Commemoration Committee decided to unveil a special sign honoring veterans because of the medal’s history.
“The Purple Heart was the first military medal presented by this country,” says Bill Keohan, member of the committee and select board. “George Washington introduced it back in the Revolutionary War, so we wanted to make this part of our commemoration this year.”
The ceremony will be held outside at Memorial Hall, which has a monument dedicated to local veterans next to the flagpole. Inside the center are displays honoring the military, including a Hall of Flags, museums recognizing Disabled American Veterans and the American Legion, and Iraqi Freedom and Vietnam memorials. The building opened in 1926 to remember the sacrifice of local veterans in World War I.
In addition to a new sign, a Purple Heart flag will be flown during the ceremony. It will eventually be moved indoors to the Hall of Flags, where it will remain on display for visitors to view up close.
“I think this is great,” says Medeiros, who is active in a variety of veterans causes. “I’m proud of my service and am glad the town is honoring those who earned the Purple Heart. It means a lot.”
Dave Kindy can be reached at davidkindy1832@gmail.com.