Unyielding Valor: SFC William M. Bryant's Heroic Defense in Vietnam War - A Medal of Honor Story

Though the United States had increasingly been involved in South East Asian geopolitical concerns following the second world war, they didn’t become directly involved in combat in Vietnam until March of 1965 when the first American combat troops arrived.  Over the next 8 years, approximately 3.1 million Americans were stationed in Vietnam during the war.  And of those, only 266 would be awarded the Medal of Honor.  On today's show I will tell you the story of one of those men.  With his unit surrounded by enemy forces, this hero would organize and lead his unit in a fierce defense of their position over a relentless 34 hour period.  During this time he would repeatedly risk his own life to direct fire at the enemy, aid the wounded, distribute ammunition, and even lead multiple patrols outside the perimeter of their defensive position.  Doing much of this while wounded.  This is the story of Green Beret Sergeant First Class William Maud Bryant.  

Born in Cochran, GA on February 16th 1933 to parents Mr. and Mrs. Sebron Bryant, William would end up living with his uncle in Detroit Michigan following the divorce of his parents.  At the age of 20, he would enlist in the US Army where over the next 16 years his military career would shape him into one of our nations most courageous selfless heroes.  

William would first be assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  Soon after he would go to Ranger school where he would learn small unit tactics as well as combat leadership.  And it was that leadership training would lay the foundation that his military career would be built upon.  Upon graduating Ranger school as an honor graduate, he would return to his unit at Fort Bragg.  It was there that William would see men wearing the iconic green berets, which signified their position within the US Army special forces.  He would eventually join their ranks where he would reportedly say that he finally found what he was looking for in a military career.

In Vietnam, Sgt Bryant would be assigned to Co. A, 5th Special Forces Group, and by March 1969 he was the commanding officer of the 3rd Mobile Strike Force of the Civilian Irregular Defense Group Company 321 in Long Khanh Province in South Vietnam.  Paramilitary units of this type were comprised of indigenous people of the area and were led by US special forces soldiers.  

On March 24, Sgt Bryant’s fire base was surrounded and attacked by elements of three enemy regiments, where he and his men would face a relentless onslaught over the next 34 hours.  In an effort to set up an effective defensive perimeter, Sgt Bryant would evade heavy enemy fire and make his way throughout his company’s position where he would direct fire, distribute ammunition and provide aid to those who were wounded.  His leadership and courage would inspire his men to maintain their morale and continue the defense of their position. 

As fighting ensued, Sgt. Bryant’s unit was running low on supplies and an ammunition drop was coordinated.   As happens all too often in combat,  the helicopters had to evade enemy fire and they were not able to precisely drop the ammunition where it was needed most.  Rather it was scattered throughout the general area.  Knowing what needed to be done, and facing intense enemy fire, Sgt. Bryant would disregard his own safety and would gather all of the scattered ammunition boxes and he would go on to distribute the much needed ammunition to his men.  This allowed them to persist in their tough defense of the base.  

At one point the fighting had died down just long enough to allow Sgt Bryant to organize and lead a patrol outside of their perimeter.  His unit would quickly be engaged by heavy small arms fire and were pinned down, where they could not tacitly retreat back to their original position.  It was reported that Sgt Bryant was able to single-handedly stop one enemy attack which inspired his patrol to repulse subsequent assaults.  In an attempt to gather intel on the enemy units, Sgt Bryant would crawl forward, toward the enemy, in an attempt to capture an injured enemy soldier which he spotted some distance away.  By the time Sgt Bryant reached him, the man had died of his wounds.  He then had to evade heavy fire and return back to his patrol.  Once back with his men, he would lead them back to their original position where they continued the defense under his command.

As the battle continued, it was obvious that no reinforcements would arrive in time to repel the enemy.  They were completely surrounded with no chance of escape.  Sgt. Bryant knew they needed to break through the enemy lines and he came up with a plan to hit them at a weak point in an effort to break through.  Unfortunately they were only able to make it approximately 200 meters before they were pinned down by heavy automatic rifle fire and fortified enemy bunkers.  It was at this time that Sgt. Bryant was wounded.  But true to form for Sgt. Bryant, and men of his caliber, this would not be the end to his fighting.  Badly wounded, he was still able to direct his men to lay down suppressive fire and call in air support from helicopter gunships.  Wanting to capitalize on the aftermath of the gunship attack, Sgt. Bryant fought through his pain to single-handedly charge and overran an enemy position where he would kill 3 enemy soldiers.

This unbelievable act energized his men to continue their attack on the entrenched enemy.  His now regrouped unit pushed forward on a final assault on the enemy in front of them, but they were not able to break through.  And it was at this time that an enemy rocket hit Sgt. Bryant’s position and he would be killed.

On February 16th, 1971, which would have been his 38th birthday, Sgt. Bryant’s family was in attendance at the White House where President Nixon would present the Medal of Honor to his parents.  

Sgt. William Bryant is buried in the Raleigh National Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Unfortunately there isn’t much public information about William’s life, for that matter there isn’t much available outside of the story of his actions which would see him being awarded the medal of honor.  I was able to find that he was married, had a daughter and two sons.  I couldn’t find anything about his wife and daughter, including their names.  However, I did find an article written by Rachel Riley of the Fayetteville Observer where his two sons, Gregory and Kelvin were in attendance at the ceremony where the family would present Sgt. Bryant's medal of honor to be displayed at Bryant Hall, the building named in his honor at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg North Carolina.    

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