Meet The Real Life Rambo From US Army Who Stared At Death And Said, “Not Today”

Whenever we watch Hollywood action movies, we turn off our brains to have a bloody good time. That’s because most of these flicks are too absurd to be true. One cop, no matter how brave he’s, can’t take down a group of robbers barefooted. One soldier can’t take down an army while wearing a red bandana and no armour. Right? Well, actually it can happen if we’re talking about Roy Benavidez.

Born in Texas, Roy Benavidez began his life shining shoes, working on farms and tire shops. Following that, he enrolled in the US Army and then joined the Army Special Forces. However, it was in Vietnam where he faced one of the biggest hurdles of his life.

When America was waging war on Vietnam, Benavidez went there as an advisor to an Army of the Republic of Vietnam infantry regiment. And during one of his patrols, he made the fatal mistake of stepping onto a mine. He was immediately sent to the United States and looking at the seriousness of his injuries, the doctors had said that he won’t be able to walk again. But that wasn’t the end of his story.

When Benavidez saw his own citizens burning the flag of USA to protest against their country’s war on Vietnam, he was highly offended by it. This motivated him to begin a training ritual to regain his ability to walk. He crawled on his elbows and chins, and supported himself against the hospital’s walls to stand upright without any aid. After doing this for over a year, amidst excruciating pain, he walked out of the hospital and joined active duty after two years. True story.

If you thought that Benavidez’s training ritual sounded similar to a scene from ‘Kill Bill’, you’re absolutely correct. But the difference is that Benavidez wasn’t acting. And if that got your heart pumping, wait till you listen how he went full on Rambo during his second visit to Vietnam.

In 1968, Benavidez received a distress call from a 12-man Special Forces unit which was surrounded by a Vietnamese (NVA) battalion of about 1000 men. Even though he only had a knife with him at that time, he didn’t think twice to run to their aid.

According to the official report, Benavidez had suffered several gun-shots during his attempt to save as many lives as he could. Additionally, he had battled with a NVA soldier, who had stabbed him with a bayonet, by pulling out the enemy’s knife and then gutting him with his own knife.

When he was evacuated to base camp after this six-hour battle, there were seven gunshot wounds and 28 shrapnel holes in head, scalp, shoulder, buttocks, feet and legs. His right lung was destroyed and a bullet had just missed his heart. Thinking that he was dead, when the supervising doctor went onto zip him up in a body bag, Benavidez spat in his face to let him that he was alive.

Considering how fantastical Benavidez’s story was, the Government had to wait for credible details before conferring him with the Medal of Honor. However, when an eyewitness, Brian O’Connor vouched for his heroic act, he was awarded appropriately. Then US President Ronald Reagan had said,

“If the story of his heroism were a movie script, you would not believe it.”

On 1976, Benavidez finally retired from active duty and returned to his home town in Texas to educate the youth. Following that he worked as the Speaker of the United States Arms Forces. He also wrote three autobiographical books, ‘The Three Wars of Roy Benavidez’, ‘The Last Medal of Honor’ and ‘Medal of Honor: A Vietnam Warrior’s Story’.

Benavidez breathed his last breath in 1998 but became an inspiration for soldiers and warriors in every facet of life. His will to fight and die for a just cause is certainly an example to live by.

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