Humbert Roque Versace

Infobox Military Person
name= Humbert Roque Versace
born= birth date|mf=yes|1937|7|2
died= death date and age|mf=yes|1965|9|26|1937|7|2
placeofbirth= Honolulu, Hawaii
placeofdeath= Vietnam
placeofburial=


caption=Captain Humbert Roque Versace, Medal of Honor recipient
nickname=Rocky
allegiance= United States of America
branch=
serviceyears= 1959-1965
rank= Captain
commands=
unit=Detachment 25, MAAG
battles= Vietnam War
awards= Medal of Honor Silver Star Purple Heart
laterwork=
Captain Humbert Roque "Rocky" Versace (July 2, 1937–September 26, 1965) was a United States Army officer of Puerto Rican-Italian descent who was awarded the United States' highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his heroic actions while a prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War. He was the first member of the U.S. Army to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions performed in Southeast Asia while in captivity.cite web|url=http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html
title=President Awards Posthumous Medal of Honor to Vietnam War Hero
date=July 8, 2002 Remarks by the President Bush at the Presentation of the Medal of Honor in the East Room of the White House.]

Early years

Humbert Roque Versace was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 2, 1937. He was the eldest of five children born to Marie Teresa Rios (1917–1999)—the author of three books, including the "Fifteenth Pelican", on which "The Flying Nun" (starring Sally Field), the TV series of the 1960s, was based—and Colonel Humbert Joseph Versace (1911–1972).cite web |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mtrversace.htm
title=Marie Teresa Rios Versace (Tere Rios), Military Spouse & Author
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery] Versace grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.. He joined the Armed Forces in Norfolk, Virginia. As had his father before him, Versace entered the United States Military Academy West Point. He graduated in 1959 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Armor in the U.S. Army.cite web |url=http://www.touchthewall.org/Rocky.html
title=Humberto Roque "Rocky" Versace, MOH
work=My MIA's|publisher=Touch the Wall]

He was a member of Ranger Class 4-60 and was awarded the Ranger Tab on December 18, 1959. Upon graduation from Ranger School, Capt. Versace attended Airborne School and was awarded the parachutist badge. He then served with 3rd Battalion, 40th Armor, 1st Cavalry Division in the Republic of Korea as an M-48 tank platoon leader from March 1960 to April 1961. Captain Versace was then assigned to the 3d U.S. Infantry (Old Guard), where he served as a tank platoon leader in Headquarters and Headquarters Company. After volunteering for duty in Vietnam, he attended the Military Assistance Institute, the Intelligence course at Fort Holabird, Maryland, and the USACS Vietnamese language Course at the Presidio of San Francisco.cite news|url=http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html
author=Steve Vogel |date=May 27, 2001
work=The Washington Post |title=Honoring the Defiant One]

Vietnam War

On May 12, 1962, Versace began his first tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam as an intelligence advisor. In May 1963 he volunteered for a six month's extension of his tour, planning to attend seminary at the conclusion of his service and join the Catholic priesthood, hoping to return to Vietnam as a missionary working with orphans.cite web
url=http://www.umuc.edu/fyionline/august_02/fyionline3.html
work=FYI Online
date=August 2002
title=Rocky Versace Plaza Dedicated in Alexandria
publisher=University of Maryland University College
accessdate=2006-07-19 ]

Less than two weeks before the end of his tour, on October 29, 1963, while acting as intelligence advisor to Detachment 25, 5th Special Forces Group in the Mekong Delta, Versace accompanied several companies of South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense (CIDG) troops who had planned to remove a Viet Cong (VC) command post located in the U Minh Forest, a Viet Cong stronghold. A VC Main Force battalion ambushed and overran Versace's unit, wounding him in the process. He was able to provide enough covering fire so that the CIDG forces could withdraw from the killing zone. [cite web|url=http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html
title=Top Marine Endorses Medal of Honor for Army Hero |author=David Eberhart
work=Stars and Stripes
date=July 18, 2000]

A second government force of about 200 men operating only a few thousand yards from the main fight learned of the disaster too late to help. U.S. authorities said the communist radio jammers had knocked out both the main channel and the alternate channel on all local military radios.cite news
url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_versace.html
title=3 Aides Seized in Vietnam Battle
work=Pacific Stars and Stripes, Five Star Edition, Vol. 19, No. 304
date=Friday, November 1, 1963
accessdate=2006-07-17 ] Versace was captured and taken to a prison deep in the jungle along with two other Americans, Lieutenant Nick Rowe and Sergeant Dan Pitzer.cite news
url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_versace.html
title=3 Aides Seized in Vietnam Battle
work=Pacific Stars and Stripes, Five Star Edition, Vol. 19, No. 304
date=Friday, November 1, 1963
accessdate=2006-07-17 ] He tried to escape four times, but failed in his attempts. Versace insulted the Viet Cong during the indoctrination sessions and cited the Geneva Convention treaty time after time. The Viet Cong separated Versace from the other prisoners. The last time the prisoners heard his voice, he was loudly singing "God Bless America". On September 26, 1965, North Vietnam’s "Liberation Radio” announced the execution of Captain Humbert Roque Versace.findagrave|7531924 Retrieved on 2007-12-05] Versace's remains have never been recovered. His headstone at Arlington National Cemetery stands above an empty grave and can be located in the Memorial section MG-108.findagrave|7531924 Retrieved on 2007-12-05]

Upon learning of their son's fate, Marie Teresa Rios Versace and her husband, Colonel Versace, tried to find out what they could about the circumstances. She went to Paris in the late 1960s, trying unsuccessfully to see the North Vietnamese delegation as it arrived for peace talks. Rios Versace expressed her frustration and anguish in poems.cite news |url=http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html
title=A Mission Inspired By a POW's Persistence
date=July 8, 2002 |author=Steve Vogel
work=The Washington Post]

Nominations to award Versace the Medal of Honor were initiated in 1969, but the nomination failed and he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star instead. The quest for a Medal of Honor for Versace languished until the "Friends of Rocky Versace" reinitiated the crusade once more in 1999. Language added by Congress in the 2002 Defense Authorization Act ended the standoff and authorized the award of the nation's highest military decoration for combat valor to Versace.cite news|url=http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html
title=Special Report: Medal of Honor |date=July 4, 2002
author=Ellen Sorokin|work=The Washington Times]

On July 8, 2002, in a ceremony in the White House East Room, Versace was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush for his heroism, the first time an Army POW had been awarded the nation's highest honor for actions in captivity. Present were his surviving siblings, Dr. Stephen Versace, Richard (former coach of the Indiana Pacers), Michael and Trilby Versace.cite web |url=http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html
title=President Awards Posthumous Medal of Honor to Vietnam War Hero
date=July 8, 2002 Remarks by the President Bush at the Presentation of the Medal of Honor in the East Room of the White House.]

Medal of Honor citation

Humbert Roque Versace
"
Rank and organization:" Captain, U.S. Army, Intelligence Advisor, Special Operations
"
Place:"Republic of Vietnam
"
Entered service at:" Norfolk, Virginia
"
Born:"Honolulu, Hawaii
"
Citation:
":For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while a prisoner of war during the period of October 29, 1963 to September 26, 1965 in the Republic of Vietnam. While accompanying a Civilian Irregular Defense Group patrol engaged in combat operations in Thoi Binh District, An Xuyen Province, Republic of Vietnam on October 29, 1963, Captain Versace and the CIDG assault force were caught in an ambush from intense mortar, automatic weapons, and small arms fire from elements of a reinforced enemy Main Force battalion. As the battle raged, Captain Versace fought valiantly and encouraged his CIDG patrol to return fire against overwhelming enemy forces. He provided covering fire from an exposed position to enable friendly forces to withdraw from the killing zone when it was apparent that their position would be overrun, and was severely wounded in the knee and back from automatic weapons fire and shrapnel. He stubbornly resisted capture with the last full measure of his strength and ammunition. Taken prisoner by the Viet Cong, he demonstrated exceptional leadership and resolute adherence to the tenets of the Code of Conduct from the time he entered into a prisoner of war status. Captain Versace assumed command of his fellow American prisoners, and despite being kept locked in irons in an isolation box, raised their morale by singing messages to popular songs of the day, and leaving inspiring messages at the latrine. Within three weeks of captivity, and despite the severity of his untreated wounds, he attempted the first of four escape attempts by dragging himself on his hands and knees out of the camp through dense swamp and forbidding vegetation to freedom. Crawling at a very slow pace due to his weakened condition, the guards quickly discovered him outside the camp and recaptured him. Captain Versace scorned the enemy's exhaustive interrogation and indoctrination efforts, and inspired his fellow prisoners to resist to the best of their ability. When he used his Vietnamese language skills to protest improper treatment of the American prisoners by the guards, he was put into leg irons and gagged to keep his protestations out of earshot of the other American prisoners in the camp. The last time that any of his fellow prisoners heard from him, Captain Versace was singing God Bless America at the top of his voice from his isolation box. Unable to break his indomitable will, his faith in God, and his trust in the United States of America and his fellow prisoners, Captain Versace was executed by the Viet Cong on September 26, 1965. Captain Versaces extraordinary heroism, self-sacrifice, and personal bravery involving conspicuous risk of life above and beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army, and reflect great credit to himself and the U.S. Armed Forces. [cite web|url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1960_vn/versace.htm
title=Medal of Honor citation for Humbert Roque Versace
publisher=HomeofHeroes.com]

In memory

The name Humbert R Versace is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("The Wall") on Panel 01E, Row 033. [cite web|url=http://www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID=110&Wall_Id_No=53643.0
title= Humbert Roque Versace
work=The Virtual Wall
publisher=Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
accessdate=2006-07-18 ] On July 6, 2002, Rocky Versace Plaza in Alexandria, Virginia was dedicated in honor of Humbert R. Versace. There is a statue with the likeness of Versace in the Plaza, which was made possible with a donation of $125,000 raised by the citizens of Alexandria, Virginia. [ [http://www.mishalov.com/Versace.html A Mission Inspired By a POW's Persistence, Monday July 8, 2002, By Steve Vogel] ] On July 9, 2002, the day after the White House Medal of Honor ceremony, Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White and Army Chief of Staff General Eric K. Shinseki inducted Versace into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. [cite news |url=http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/news/2002/020709_aln_versace.htm
title=Vietnam War POW gets Medal of Honor
author=Joe Burlas
publisher=Army News Service
date=July 9, 2002] The name of Humbert Roque Versace was engraved in "El Monumento de la Recordacion" (Monument of Remembrance), dedicated to Puerto Rico's fallen military members and situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and unveiled by Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth McClintock (see copy of speech) and PR National Guard Adjutant General Col. David Carrión on Memorial Day, 2007. [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
] ]

Awards and decorations

Among Capt. Humbert Roque Versace's military decorations are the following:

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*Badges:
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* Parachutist badgeTabs:
* Special Forces Tab
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*
*

ee also

*List of Medal of Honor recipients
*List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
*List of famous Puerto Ricans - Military
*List of Italian American Medal of Honor recipients
*Puerto Rican recipients of the Medal of Honor
*List of Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients

Notes

References

*findagrave|7531924 Retrieved on 2007-12-05
*cite web
url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/hrversace.htm
title=Humbert Roque Versace, Captain, United States Army
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2006-07-17

*cite web
url=http://www.medalofhonor.com/HumbertVersaceStory.htm
title=Medal of Honor—Humbert Roque "Rocky" Versace Story
publisher=MedalOfHonor.com
accessdate=2006-07-17. Includes Medal of Honor citation.

*cite web
url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_versace.html
title=Roque Rocky Versace—Medal of Honor Hero
publisher=HomeOfHeroes.com
accessdate=2006-07-17

Further reading

*cite book
title=Five Years to Freedom: The True Story of a Vietnam POW
author=Rowe, James N.
date=May 1984
edition=reissue edition
publisher= Presidio Press
id=ISBN 0-345-31460-3
origdate= June 1971

Persondata
NAME= Versace, Humbert Roque
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
DATE OF BIRTH= July 2, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH= Honolulu, Hawaii
DATE OF DEATH= September 26, 1965
PLACE OF DEATH= Vietnam