In 1968, John Shepherd volunteered for the United States Army. After basic and advanced individual training at Fort Gordon, Ga., in early 1969, he was deployed to Vietnam, assigned to the 9th Infantry Division, and stationed at Fire Support Base Dirk in the Mekong Delta. While there, his unit was subjected to frequent rocket and mortar attacks that killed many of his fellow soldiers.
Mr. Shepherd was sent on search and destroy missions almost daily. On one of them, he and his patrol were inserted by helicopter into a landing zone under intense enemy fire. He located the source of the fire, a bunker, charged it and threw a grenade, killing all the enemy soldiers but one, who was captured. For his courage and heroism under hostile fire, Mr. Shepherd was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor Device.
