President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, to then-Private First Class Kenneth J. David, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“Awesome. Outstanding. Very solemn.”

That is how Girard Army veteran Ken David described receiving the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest award for valor — from President Joe Biden on Friday.

He was the only living recipient to receive the honor. Biden bestowed the medal posthumously to six men at a White House ceremony, including five Korean War veterans and another Vietnam War veteran.

The honor came more than 50 years after David saved the life of his comrades in Vietnam. In May of 2020, David was awarded the U.S. Army’s second highest commendation of valor, the Distinguished Service Cross. It was then that an effort was renewed to have him awarded the Medal of Honor.

He also has been inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

David, who will be 75 in a few weeks, said he had 22 family members and friends at Friday’s ceremony, including two of his “battle buddies” from Vietnam. Also in attendance was Herm Breuer, former director of the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission, who has spearheaded the effort to get David the Medal of Honor for more than a decade.

“It is a lot to take in. This honor was long overdue. Ken is very humble about what he went through. This put the icing on the cake after I ended my tenure there and I couldn’t be happier,” Breuer said. “I only wish his parents could have seen it. They were still alive when this process started. But I am so happy to have seen this honor across the finish line.”

When interviewed Friday evening, David was waiting to be escorted to a dinner hosted by the Medal of Honor Society.

“This medal is closing out another chapter of my life,” said David, who is the adjutant / treasurer for Disabled American Veterans Chapter 11 in Warren.

David was drafted into the Army in 1969 and arrived in South Vietnam in January 1970. He served in Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry. The unit came under attack just before 5 a.m. May 7 from the North Vietnamese Army atop a mountain in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam near the Laotian border. Six American soldiers were killed in the attack.

Fourteen U.S. soldiers — all wounded — made it out alive when the 90-minute barrage ended. Among them was David, who is credited with saving the lives of 13 of his comrades.

For years after the war, David avoided talking about his experiences, but he does so nowadays a bit more easily. Military documents and the man who helped in the effort to get David the Medal of Honor also help tell the series of harrowing events.

His platoon of 20 men arrived May 5 at the abandoned U.S. fire support base Maureen. On May 6, they did some reconnaissance. All was quiet until 12 minutes before 5 a.m. on May 7. That was when “all hell breaks loose,” said Breuer.

The NVA saw the area was too much ground for the U.S. soldiers to control, “and came after us,” David said.

There are reports there were more than 1,000 NVA soldiers and 300 sappers, what David explained were elite or special forces, against the small U.S. force.

David’s lieutenant was the first to die. He was shot and killed instantly. David’s sergeant also was injured, but remained alive. David, the group’s radio / telephone operator, handed over the radio to his sergeant and took the fight to the enemy, laying down suppressive fire to draw the attention away from wounded American soldiers. At one point he was alone to defend his portion of the defensive perimeter. He said his main objective was to stay alive.

The first rescue helicopter arrived about an hour into the fight. When it began to draw enemy fire while trying to land, David drew the attention back to himself by screaming and waving at NVA soldiers, according to military records.

David was wounded during the fight. He said shrapnel from a rocket- propelled grenade hit him in the back, and both of his eardrums had been blown out. He was hospitalized for five months.

Still he continued to take the fight to the enemy. When the fighting began, he had 28 magazines of bullets. He was down to one when the fighting stopped, and at points during the battle, was throwing back satchel charges that were thrown by NVA soldiers.

On Friday, Biden also awarded eight people the Medal of Valor, which goes to those who have shown exceptional courage in attempting to save human lives.