Company of Heroes: A Forgotten Medal of Honor and Bravo Company's War in Vietnam

by Eric Poole

Overview

On May 10, 1970, during the Cambodian Incursion, Army Specialist Leslie Sabo Jr., 22-years old, married only 30 days before shipping out and on active duty for just 6 months, died as his patrol was ambushed near a remote border area of Cambodia. When an enemy grenade landed near a wounded comrade, Sabo used his body to shield the soldier from the blast. Despite being mortally injured, he crawled towards the enemy emplacement and threw a grenade into the bunker. The explosion silenced the enemy fire, but also ended Sabo's life. This attack by North Vietnamese troops killed eight of Sabo's fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division and would come to be known as the "Mother's Day Ambush." Sabo's commanders nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but the request was somehow lost. A campaign to correct the oversight began in 1999, ultimately leading to legislation that eliminated the three-year time limit on awarding this medal.

Forty-two years after his selfless acts of heroism during the Vietnam War saved the lives of his fellow soldiers; Leslie H. Sabo Jr. posthumously received the Medal of Honor on May 16, 2012.

Using military records and interviews with surviving soldiers, journalist Eric Poole recreates the terror of combat amidst the jungles and rice paddies as Bravo Company 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne forged bonds of brotherhood in their battle for survival. Company of Heroes offers an insight into the incredible and harrowing experiences of just a small number of men from a single unit, deep in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472807915
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	03/24/2015
Series:	General Military Series
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,187,011
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

In nearly 20 years as a reporter and columnist, Eric Poole has received more than 30 regional, statewide, and national journalism awards for subjects ranging from sports to the environment and business to politics. In 2008, Poole received first-place Keystone Awards from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association for general column writing and for special subject with "Act of Courage," the story upon which his first book Forgotten Honor was based.

He has interviewed some of America's most illustrious figures, including presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Pittsburgh Steelers President and US Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney, and was part of the audience for Leslie Sabo's Medal of Honor award ceremony.

Poole is a reporter for the Ellwood City Ledger and Beaver County Times newspapers in the Calkins Media chain. Previously, he was a reporter and editor for Gateway Publications (now part of the Tribune-Review's Trib Total Media chain). The author lives in Ellwood City, PA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments /Prologue /Chapter 1 /Chapter 2 /Chapter 3 /Chapter 4 /Chapter 5 /Chapter 6 /Chapter 7 /Chapter 8 /Chapter 9 /Chapter 10 /Chapter 11 /Chapter 12 /Chapter 13 /Chapter 14 /Chapter 15 /Chapter 16 /Chapter 17 /Chapter 18 /Chapter 19 /Chapter 20 /Chapter 21 /Chapter 22 /Chapter 23 /Chapter 24 /Chapter 25 /Chapter 26 /Chapter 27 /Epilogue /Appendix /Notes /Select Bibliography /Index

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/09/2015
In November 1969, Leslie Halasz Sabo, the newly-married, youngest son of Hungarian immigrants, shipped off to Vietnam to join the 101st Airborne Division's 506th Infantry Regiment, known as the “Currahees." Sabo's comrades-in-arms admired his sense of honor and no-nonsense approach to the grim duties of warfare. On Mother's Day 1970, Sabo's Bravo Company was ambushed by North Vietnamese troops and he died in a fierce firefight on the Cambodian border trying to save wounded soldiers. Though nominated for the Medal of Honor, a bureaucratic snafu ensued and all traces of Sabo's deeds vanished. An accidental find by an intrepid amateur military historian set in motion the events that reunited the ambush survivors at the White House, where they would meet the Sabo family who had known nothing about Leslie's heroism. Journalist Poole, who first reported Sabo's story for the Ellwood City Ledger, masterfully conveys Sabo's life: his upbringing by wealthy parents who fled Hungary during WWII; his strong connection to his older brother, and the deep imprint that the rural community made on him. Where Poole truly excels, however, is in his portrayals of the gruesome work of war, depicting the maniacal seesaw between death at its most visceral and the simple pleasures of news from home. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Journalist Poole, who first reported Sabo's story for the Ellwood City Ledger, masterfully conveys Sabo's life: his upbringing by wealthy parents who fled Hungary during WWII; his strong connection to his older brother, and the deep imprint that the rural community made on him. Where Poole truly excels, however, is in his portrayals of the gruesome work of war, depicting the maniacal seesaw between death at its most visceral and the simple pleasures of news from home.” —starred review, Publishers Weekly

“It took 40 years, but the story of Leslie Sabo's valor has finally been brought to light to reveal a truly forgotten hero. As Mr. Poole makes abundantly clear in 'Company of Heroes,' war is never glamorous. It is not kind to anyone nor is it something that should ever be forgotten. Soldiers should never face what Leslie Sabo's brothers in arms faced upon returning home. Soldiers should always have the support of those at home so that they can begin to heal once the shooting has stopped.” —Pittsburgh Post Gazette

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