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FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Nicky Daniel Bacon ~ July 19, 2010
Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC

Posted on 07/18/2010 5:00:28 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska

 

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!
 
For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.
 
Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!
 
 

~ Hall of Heroes ~

Nicky Daniel Bacon

(Info found here.)

ArmyPatch small   NavySeal small   Air Force Seal   Marines Seal small   Coast Guard Seal small (better)

On Saturday, July 17th, another Medal of Honor recipient left us to guard the streets of heaven.  Thank you, sir, for your service to our country.

 

 

Nicky Daniel "Nick" Bacon (November 25, 1945 – July 17, 2010) was a United States Army first sergeant from the Americal Division who served during the Vietnam War. For his actions in combat in Tam Ky, Vietnam, Bacon was awarded America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Bacon was born in Caraway, Arkansas, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in Phoenix, Arizona. He reached the rank of staff sergeant while serving his second combat tour in Vietnam as part of the 21st Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division. On August 26, 1968, while commanding a squad of the first platoon of Company B, 4th Battalion in an operation west of Tam Ky, Bacon and his unit came under fire from enemy positions. While Bacon destroyed these positions with hand grenades, his platoon leader was wounded in open ground. Assuming command, Bacon led the platoon to destroy the remaining enemy emplacements.

When the third platoon of Bravo Company lost their own leader, Bacon took command of that platoon as well as his own and led both platoons against enemy positions. During the evacuation of the wounded, Bacon climbed the side of a nearby tank to gain a vantage point and direct fire into enemy positions, despite his exposure to enemy fire. He was personally credited with killing at least 4 enemy soldiers and destroying an anti-tank gun.

For his actions in this battle, Bacon was awarded the Medal of Honor. For his distinguished military service in Vietnam and throughout his career, he also received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars (with combat "V"), the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and numerous other awards and decorations.

After the war, Bacon continued to serve in the Army until his retirement as a first sergeant. He later served as president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Director of Veterans' Affairs for the State of Arkansas. In the 1990s he traveled to Vietnam as part of a POW/MIA task force and traveled to Israel at the invitation of Jewish veterans, urging the Israeli government not to cede the Golan Heights to Syria. Bacon also became a veterans' advocate.

Bacon died July 17, 2010, at his home in Rose Bud, Arkansas.

 

Bacon's official citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Bacon distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with the 1st Platoon, Company B, during an operation west of Tam Ky. When Company B came under fire from an enemy bunker line to the front, S/Sgt. Bacon quickly organized his men and led them forward in an assault. He advanced on a hostile bunker and destroyed it with grenades. As he did so, several fellow soldiers including the 1st Platoon leader, were struck by machine gun fire and fell wounded in an exposed position forward of the rest of the platoon. S/Sgt. Bacon immediately assumed command of the platoon and assaulted the hostile gun position, finally killing the enemy gun crew in a single-handed effort. When the 3d Platoon moved to S/Sgt. Bacon's location, its leader was also wounded. Without hesitation S/Sgt. Bacon took charge of the additional platoon and continued the fight. In the ensuing action he personally killed 4 more enemy soldiers and silenced an antitank weapon. Under his leadership and example, the members of both platoons accepted his authority without question. Continuing to ignore the intense hostile fire, he climbed up on the exposed deck of a tank and directed fire into the enemy position while several wounded men were evacuated. As a result of S/Sgt. Bacon's extraordinary efforts, his company was able to move forward, eliminate the enemy positions, and rescue the men trapped to the front. S/Sgt. Bacon's bravery at the risk of his life was in the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Free Republic
KEYWORDS: canteen; military; troopsupport
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Thanks Kathy!

{{HUGS}}


161 posted on 07/19/2010 7:36:38 AM PDT by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

162 posted on 07/19/2010 7:57:36 AM PDT by unique
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To: oldteen; LUV W; tomkow6

Thanks, unique, for the spinner.

teen.....#50!!
Luv.....#100!!
tom.....#150!!


163 posted on 07/19/2010 8:30:08 AM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: tomkow6; All

HEY TOMKOW I got confession to make Godzilla confidely told me he mess up Titanic yeah he tick off they refuse to have him naigate get around the Ice berg

So morality to this story don’t tick off Godzilla LOL!


164 posted on 07/19/2010 10:31:15 AM PDT by SevenofNine ("We are Freepers, all your media belong to us ,resistance is futile")
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To: All

OK....who broke FR?


165 posted on 07/19/2010 2:30:17 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: tomkow6

Lota runs, Cubs...good job!


166 posted on 07/19/2010 3:05:51 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: ConorMacNessa

TAPS

RIP

SSgt Sheldon L Tate, USA
782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team,
82nd Airborne Division; KIA Afghanistan 14JUL2010


Amazing Grace

167 posted on 07/19/2010 3:15:36 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: ConorMacNessa
Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting. We must never forget those that gave their all for us to be free and safe.
168 posted on 07/19/2010 3:17:27 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

169 posted on 07/19/2010 5:21:29 PM PDT by AZamericonnie (I can see November from my house!)
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To: beachn4fun
I tried to sneak in and say HI before you went home, but I couldn't get on FR.


170 posted on 07/19/2010 5:48:26 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: All
Click the pic for ….

Road Trip: Fallon NAS, Nevada



NOTE: CANTEEN MUSIC
Posted daily and on the Music Thread
for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

171 posted on 07/21/2010 1:07:30 AM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Jim Robinson; PROCON; Kathy in Alaska; laurenmarlowe; BIGLOOK; alfa6; EsmeraldaA; SandRat; ...

Jim Robinson, as the owner of FreeRepublic, I have a special favor to ask of you and FreeRepublic.

I’d like you and those listed above, to please take the time to ping your list and call the members that would like to come here and pay their condolences to the Bacon family.

I have some personal contact with the family and I will be notifying them of the existence of this thread.

Like us, the Bacon family are faithful and humble servants of the most high God and Patriots as well. They would be quite comfortable here at FreeRepublic. They will be visiting this thread in the coming days and it would be a fitting tribute to Nick and his family to see it break a thousand posts. I know you and our fellow freepers won’t let them down.

Below is the Eulogy that was delivered by Pastor Gene Cunningham for Nick Bacon’s funeral. Included at the end is a link to the station that ran a story on Nick’s funeral. Unfortunately there are 0 comments when I visited it. To comment I think you need a facebook account. I don’t have one. There are freepers that do. It needs to be freeped.

When you click on the info link in the first picture of this post, it takes you to wikipedia. They don’t do this spiritual giant any justice. No surprise there.

He was Chairman of the Board of Basic Training Bible Ministries because of his leadership and the men he surrounded himself with. The team has launched and continues to hold youth camps throughout the U.S. They publish and distribute many, many books, visit schools, set up seminaries, and train pastors, teachers and missionaries throughout the world. They teach adults and children the love of God, personal valor, honor, integrity and doing the hard thing. What he did for the kingdom of God will have an ongoing effect that will not be measured until we enter eternity. Some of the countries being touched are the U.S., Papua New Guinea, Australia, and India. The Basics Bible Doctrine book by Pastor Gene Cunningham is set to be printed in Chinese and distributed throughout China. To get an idea of his legacy, here is a link to the website, http://www.basictraining.org/ All the material is freely given throughout the world.

You prayer warriors please pray for Tamara, Nick’s wife, and his children: Britt, Wyatt, James, Kristy, Kim, and William. And please pray for the ministry to have doors open and for the Gospel to be preached throughout the world.

A Tribute to Nick Bacon
25 November 1945–17 July 2010

Nicky Daniel Bacon is an American hero, a legendary warrior, and a living example of the power of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I use the present tense, for Nick believed the promise of our Lord when He said:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Joh 11:25–26

Nick served as Chairman of the Board of Basic Training Bible Ministries from its inception in 1994. His staunch and loyal friendship through the years, often in very dark and trying times, is something I shall value forever. The example of his life should be a challenge to each and every one of us.

Nick Bacon is a warrior. His life is defined by the battles he fought—from his most famous battle, near Tam Ky, South Vietnam in 1968—for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor, to his final battle with cancer, by which he received his promotion to his eternal rest and reward. Nick never avoided a necessary fight, and when he fought it was for victory alone.

According to the standard of biblical chivalry, Nick Bacon is a modern-day knight. He lived according to a code of conduct as ancient as time itself. His tenets included courage, honor, and sacrifice. He fought his many battles with the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. On the many occasions that I enjoyed in his home, we often spoke of the battle of life, and how these virtues are attained. I would like to share with you a few examples from his life.

While his Medal of Honor citation provides an overview of the events of that day, it does not adequately describe the details of the eight-hour battle. In that fearsome battle of Tam Ky, Nick told of being hurled into a crater by the concussion of an RPG rocket which had been fired at him after he ran forward to knock out a machine-gun emplacement with a grenade. Temporarily stunned, when he came to himself, he looked over the side of the pit and into the face of hell. Everywhere, his fellow soldiers were being cut down by intense enemy fire. Nick told me he was more afraid than he had ever been in his life. For a terrifying moment he curled up in that crater, convinced that he—and everyone else on that field—was going to die.

Then, he said, the thought of his family came to him. He did not want them to hear that he died like this, curled up in fear. So Nick began to pray. He did not ask for escape, but only for courage to attack the enemy. As he got up and charged out of the pit, he did so with the thought, “I am coming to You now, God.” But when Nick Bacon left that pit and charged into the interlocking bands of fire, he was clothed in the armor of God, an armor that all the bullets in the world could not pierce.

The events that followed defy logic and can only be explained in terms of the miraculous. Attacking into the fire of enemy machine-gun pits, their guns jammed, while Nick took them out with grenades. He then cleared the weapons and turned them on the enemy. He fought from position to position, taking charge of platoons left leaderless by the wounding or death of their commanders. By the end of the fight, Nick twice climbed up on the exposed deck of U.S. tanks that had entered the fight, giving firing directions to the tankers, who—due to the terrain—could not see the enemy positions. Some of the survivors who witnessed these actions said that he stood in such a withering hail of tracer fire that they were convinced no one could come out of it alive.

A platoon leader from one of the platoons had been seriously wounded in the neck and appeared lifeless. Not willing to concede that he was dead, Nick crawled through heavy enemy fire to retrieve him and, finding him still alive, got him medevaced in a timely manner and saved his life.

By the end of the battle, over 760 enemy dead lay on the field, apart from many others who had been dragged away. Nick had bullet holes in his uniform and canteens—even his boot-heels had been shot away. But not one round had touched his body. His prayer had been answered “exceeding abundantly beyond all that [he could] ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph 3:20). The experience of this battle makes Nick a living example of the words of David:

“This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” Psa 34:6–7

Nick believed in—and practiced—the power of diligent and fervent prayer. He knew from experience that God cares and answers our prayers, and that when His answers differ from our requests, it is always for the better. I never visited him without him making mention that he daily prayed for Nan and me, and speaking of others in need for whom he prayed.

The last time we visited Nick and Tamera was just over a month before he was called to his eternal home. Nick and I spent some time alone, speaking of our lives, our friendship, and of his on-going battle with cancer. When Nick received the news of his condition, he faced it with his typical courage, and even humor. His greatest concern was for his dear wife, Tammy, and the six children he loved so much. Yet in the very face of impending death, as far as the body is concerned, he displayed a deep, abiding faith, resting in the promises of God.

At one point in our discussion, Nick looked at me and made a comment we all need to consider. Throughout his life the battle of Tam Ky had always stood as the greatest ordeal of his life. But, he said, Tam Ky was nothing compared to the year-plus long battle he had waged against cancer. This declaration has stayed with me since we talked on that day. It is the final challenge of the life of this great yet humble man.

Only a few are called to face such a battle as he fought in Viet Nam. Yet each and every one of us must, in our time, face the inevitable battle with death. How will we fare when our time comes? Will we have availed ourselves of the “armor of God” which sustained Nick during that long and difficult struggle? Will our faith in the promises of God be sufficient for our final battle? We would do well to begin to live life with the end in view. We must first answer the question, “Where will you spend eternity?” We will have an answer for this query when we deal with the question of Pilate:

“What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ.” Mat 27:22

As a final lesson, I would like to say that when it came to the Medal of Honor, Nick always said that as a recipient, he merely had the opportunity to be the spokesman for the thousands of unsung heroes. He saw the reception of that honor as a trust—placing upon his shoulders a great responsibility to do all he could to help America’s veterans. Not long ago, I was speaking with a veteran in Montana who asked about Nick’s health. After I explained his condition at that point, the man said, “When you see him again, please thank him for me. He worked hard to get me disability benefits. He will not remember me, but I will never forget him.” I was able to pass on these words to Nick on our last visit with him.

In the spirit of this tribute, I would like to include Tamera, whose steadfast love of Nick through life, whose sacrificial devotion to their children, and whose cheerful service and friendship to so many, including my wife Nancy, has been equally heroic. The sacrificial role of faithful wife and mother receives little credit in the eyes of this world. Yet I am convinced in the halls of Heaven a far greater reward than even the Medal of Honor awaits Nick’s dear wife Tammy, and all those unsung heroes of the hearth and homes of America. Observing the unshakeable, eternal joy underlying the temporal grief of their great loss, each member of Nick’s family exemplified the power of faith in a living Savior.

In conclusion, I ask that you all join me in faithfully praying for Tamera, and all of Nick’s children: Britt, Wyatt, James, Kristy, Kim, and William (youngest to eldest). Let our tribute to Nick be our prayers for those he loved most, that they may know the presence and comfort of the Redeemer they all love and serve. The following verses were put under Nick’s picture in the funeral program. They direct us all to the ultimate issue of life:

“Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:23–27

On the web site, we’ve posted an article written by Nick called “Knowing the Cost, Expressing the Value”. As well, here are some links covering the memorial service:

http://www.fox16.com/news/story/Medal-of-Honor-recipient-remembered/-sUeIaSNNEqZo5UEF-KOtw.cspx

http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/19/4708162-farewell-to-another-great-warrior

http://governor.arkansas.gov/newsroom/index.php?do:newsDetail=1&news_id=2401

http://www.thetown-crier.com/story/1652427.html

Pastor Gene Cunningham


172 posted on 08/30/2010 6:58:58 AM PDT by jokar (The Church age is the only age man will be able to glorify Christ, http://www.basictraining.org/)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

High honor ping!


173 posted on 08/30/2010 8:53:09 AM PDT by MarineBrat (Better dead than red!)
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To: jokar

Prayers up for this great man and his family.


174 posted on 08/30/2010 12:35:13 PM PDT by RedMDer (Throw them all out in 2010... Forward with Confidence! Forward!)
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To: RedMDer

Thanks for responding to them. Did you check the links for the news stories?


175 posted on 08/30/2010 12:53:59 PM PDT by jokar (The Church age is the only age man will be able to glorify Christ, http://www.basictraining.org/)
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To: jokar

Yes I did. Very impressive.


176 posted on 08/30/2010 1:23:43 PM PDT by RedMDer (Throw them all out in 2010... Forward with Confidence! Forward!)
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To: jokar

God rest the soul of
Nick Bacon
An American Hero

Amazing Grace
[click]

177 posted on 08/30/2010 5:27:13 PM PDT by luvie (DIMs?......start packin'--you're fired!....I can see November from my house!)
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To: LUV W

Thank you so much that is beautiful. The family will love that.


178 posted on 08/30/2010 6:15:03 PM PDT by jokar (The Church age is the only age man will be able to glorify Christ, http://www.basictraining.org/)
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To: jokar

Condolences to his family. I know they are really suffering
this loss right now. He belongs to the ages....but to family
he was a son, brother, husband, daddy, grampa....a loved
member who is going to be missed every day.


179 posted on 08/30/2010 6:25:12 PM PDT by luvie (DIMs?......start packin'--you're fired!....I can see November from my house!)
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To: LUV W

He belongs to the ages....
As I posted in the intro we’re Evangelical Christians and we believe Nick is in Heaven face to face with our Savior and when our run is done we’ll join him there. That is very comforting.


180 posted on 08/30/2010 7:02:22 PM PDT by jokar (The Church age is the only age man will be able to glorify Christ, http://www.basictraining.org/)
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