Silver Star Saga: Day of tragedy, lifetime of waiting Published April 3, 2009 By Theresa Donnelly Air Force veteran F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- It's a muggy August evening in 1967 in the Bong Song plains of Vietnam. Since dusk, the air around the camp had filled with humidity and the echoes of sniper fire. The unit had been picking up Viet Cong stragglers in the northern sector and the commander dispatched a patrol to set up an ambush, but one soldier was apprehensive. He had but one day left before retuning home. "I didn't want to go on the patrol," said retired Army Sgt. Bill Tallerdy. He and 18 fellow soldiers of the 1st Division, 12th Calvary Regiment departed from the base at around 9:30 that night. "I was supposed to be going home the next day," he said. He added, "I took all the precautions I could, but it wasn't enough." The platoon was attacked at 10:45 p.m. about 1,000 meters away from the patrol base. "The platoon was supposed to be setting up an ambush," Segeant Tallerdy said, "instead we were ambushed. All hell broke loose. We got hit from three sides, and we were pinned down." Two soldiers were killed in the initial fire fight. Six were wounded, Sergeant Tallerdy being one of them. He was thrown over a barbed wire fence and lost consciousness. When he came to, he saw his best friend, Army Pfc. Steven Campbell, wounded. Earnestly, the sergeant gave him first aid, but Private Campbell would be one of three to perish in the attack. "He died in my arms that night," Sergeant Tallerdy said. Sergeant Tallerdy and Private Campbell were both 19 when the attack happened. One young soldier lost his life and another was left to live with the aftermath for the rest of his. By anyone's account, they were due special recognition for their sacrifices. This did not happen for Sergeant Tallerdy. He said that the platoon leader at the time was going to recommend Sergeant Tallerdy for a Silver Star medal right away but was transferred out of Bong Song the day after the attack. The paper work never got filed. Sergeant Tallerdy forgot about the medal until three years ago when he went to a 12th Calvary reunion in Branson, Mo. At the reunion, he talked with the battalion's former commander, retired Army Brig. Gen. Loyd Rhiddlehoover. "It was him that got the ball rolling," Sergeant Tallerdy said. "I was unaware of his role in the [situation] until he told me at the reunion," Mr. Rhiddlehoover said, who wrote to the chief of staff of the Army and to Senator Mike Enzi's offices to explain how Sergeant Tallerdy was overdue for his medal. "He worked very hard making this happen for me," the sergeant said with appreciation. In response, Mr. Rhiddlehoover said it was a debt of honor he owed to Sergeant Tallerdy and the other troops of the battalion to get recognition. "It was guys like Bill Tallerdy who made the 12th Cav. what it was -- a unit of men whose uncommon courage was a common virtue," he said. It took 41 years, three months and nine days for Sergeant Tallerdy to get his Silver Star, and it was presented to him by Wyoming's adjutant general, Army Maj. Gen. Edward Wright in a formal ceremony Feb. 12. At the ceremony Sergeant Tallerdy's wife Cindy explained that he'd been dealing with what happened in Vietnam for a long time without any help. "Knowing that what he did so long ago was, in truth, the right thing -- maybe [receiving the medal] will give him some closure and maybe some healing," she said. When he found out he got the award, Dec. 29, 2008, Sergeant Tallerdy said he was ecstatic. "For me, it validates the things we went through that night, and that Steven did not die in vain."