Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipient. He was a Private First Class assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Republic of Vietnam. He received the highest military award for rescuing a Marine platoon trapped in a minefield during the Vietnam War. In the Marine Corps, Pfc. Clausen spurned authority and was repeatedly demoted after every promotion. He vowed to come home a live private before coming home as a dead sergeant. On Jan. 31, 1970, serving with Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, He was on a mission to extract members of another platoon near Da Nang caught in a minefield while attacking the enemy. Under heavy fire and fear of tripping a mine had them frozen in their places. Clausen, the crew chief of his CH-46 helicopter, identified a safe landing spot in an area that had been cleared by a mine explosion. Although told by the aircraft commander not to leave the chopper, Clausen ignored him, a total of six times, as he repeatedly left the safety of the helicopter to help retrieve one dead and 11 wounded Marines. He then sought to guide the eight remaining Marines to the copter; while carrying a wounded man, a mine exploded, killing a nearby corpsman and wounding three Marines. His citation noted that "Only when he was certain that all Marines were safely aboard did he signal the pilot to lift the helicopter." Other decorations include the Purple Heart and the Air Medal. After his military Service he was an inspector for the Boeing Co. A public speaker to veterans groups, he suffered from poor health.
Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipient. He was a Private First Class assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Republic of Vietnam. He received the highest military award for rescuing a Marine platoon trapped in a minefield during the Vietnam War. In the Marine Corps, Pfc. Clausen spurned authority and was repeatedly demoted after every promotion. He vowed to come home a live private before coming home as a dead sergeant. On Jan. 31, 1970, serving with Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, He was on a mission to extract members of another platoon near Da Nang caught in a minefield while attacking the enemy. Under heavy fire and fear of tripping a mine had them frozen in their places. Clausen, the crew chief of his CH-46 helicopter, identified a safe landing spot in an area that had been cleared by a mine explosion. Although told by the aircraft commander not to leave the chopper, Clausen ignored him, a total of six times, as he repeatedly left the safety of the helicopter to help retrieve one dead and 11 wounded Marines. He then sought to guide the eight remaining Marines to the copter; while carrying a wounded man, a mine exploded, killing a nearby corpsman and wounding three Marines. His citation noted that "Only when he was certain that all Marines were safely aboard did he signal the pilot to lift the helicopter." Other decorations include the Purple Heart and the Air Medal. After his military Service he was an inspector for the Boeing Co. A public speaker to veterans groups, he suffered from poor health.
Bio by: Fred Beisser
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Clausen memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
