Meet Joe Marm

Meet Joe Marm

Joe Marm participated in a recent event in Goldsboro honoring Vietnam Veterans. The Medal of Honor recipient lives in Fremont, where he and his wife moved to after his retirement.

Marm was a Second Lieutenant when he found himself under fire during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in November of 1965. His citation reads “for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty…”

Quickly, disregarding the intense fire directed on him and his platoon, he charged 30 meters across open ground and hurled grenades into the enemy position, killing some of the eight insurgents manning it. Although severely wounded, when his grenades were expended, armed with only a rifle, he continued the momentum of his assault on the position and killed the remainder of the enemy. 1st Lt. Marm’s selfless actions reduced the fire on his platoon, broke the enemy assault, and rallied his unit to continue toward the accomplishment of this mission.


The rest of the citation is here:
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/walter-j-marm-jr


Marm says the movie “We Were Soldiers” with Mel Gibson is about 70% accurate in its depiction of the realities of war.


“We went in with 450 and after 3 days of intense fighting we had 79 soldiers killed in action, 121 wounded.” Marm was one of the men wounded. “I was shot in the jaw. It kinda ruined my day.”


Marm joined other veterans in a celebration of Vietnam Veteran’s Day March 29th in Goldsboro.

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