It was the height of the Vietnam War. When the 3rd Battalion of the 187th Infantry decided to add a fourth company to their ranks, the other units took the opportunity to send their insubordinate or problem soldiers to the newly formed Company D. Thankfully for the men dubbed the “Clerks and Jerks”, the Army would place them under the command of Captain Paul Bucha. A West Point graduate with a sharp mind and a passion for excellence, Capt. Bucha would turn his company into a formidable fighting force. After inserting into the Vietnam jungle in March of 1968, Capt. Bucha and Company D would inadvertently walk up on a Battalion of NVA (North Vietnam Army) in the middle the night and proved just how far this company of misfits had come. Had the NVA known just how small the unit was, the American unit could have easily been overrun. Capt. Bucha directed the defense so as to make them seem larger during a night of intense fighting and for his actions preventing the annihilation of his 89 man company, Capt. Paul Bucha was awarded the Medal of Honor, his country’s highest award for bravery in battle. A Bright Mind fit for a Fight Paul Bucha was born in August 1943 in Washington D.C. Early on, Bucha displayed a strong academic mind and athletic abilities which would allow him to further his education after high school. Despite being an All-American swimmer with multiple scholarship and offers to attend various schools, Bucha believed that service to
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