Medal of Honor Monday: Army Spc. 5 James C. McCloughan

Army Spc. 5 James C. McCloughan was drafted into military service as a combat medic Aug. 29, 1968, and served in South Vietnam from March 1969 to March 1970. However, it was the bravery he displayed at 22, during a three-day battle, that led to him receiving the Medal of Honor nearly 50 years later. 

McCloughan was born in South Haven, Michigan, April 30, 1946, but grew up on a farm in Bangor, Michigan. At Bangor High School, he was a four-sport varsity athlete. After graduation, he attended Olivet College, where he competed in wrestling, football and baseball.

He majored in sociology and obtained a teaching certificate in 1968 before taking a teaching and coaching position with South Haven Public Schools. However, he was drafted just three months into his new role. 

After completing basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in September 1968, McCloughan attended medical training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, before deploying to Vietnam. He was assigned to Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division, known as the Americal Division. 

The company air assaulted near Tam Ky and Nui Yon Hill in 1969. McCloughan, a private first class at the time, showed gallantry above and beyond the call of duty May 13-15, 1969.

On May 13, with complete disregard for his life, he ran 100 meters in an open field through heavy gunfire to rescue a comrade too injured to move and carried him to safety. That same day, 2nd Platoon was ordered to search the area near Nui Yon Hill when they were ambushed by a large North Vietnamese army force and sustained heavy casualties.  

Once again, with complete disregard for his personal safety, McCloughan led two Americans into the safety of a trench while being wounded by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade. He braved the enemy assault while moving into the kill zone on four more occasions to rescue wounded comrades.  

He treated the injured, prepared the evacuation, and, though bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds on his head and body, refused evacuation to safety to remain with his fellow soldiers, who were heavily outnumbered by enemy forces.  

The next day, the platoon was again ordered to move out toward Nui Yon Hill. McCloughan was wounded a second time by small-arms fire and shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade while rendering aid to two soldiers in an open rice paddy.  

During the final phases of the attack, while his company was surrounded by two companies of the North Vietnamese army and 700 Viet Cong, McCloughan repeatedly went into the crossfire to extract wounded soldiers while also engaging the enemy. His relentless and courageous actions inspired his comrades’ will to fight.  

When supplies ran low, McCloughan volunteered to hold a blinking strobe light in an open area as a marker for a nighttime resupply drop. He remained steadfast while bullets landed all around him and rocket-propelled grenades flew over his exposed body.  

During the morning darkness of May 15, McCloughan knocked out an enemy position with a grenade, fought and eliminated enemy soldiers, treated numerous casualties, kept two critically wounded soldiers alive during the night, and organized the dead and wounded for evacuation at daylight. 

In all, he treated 40 to 50 soldiers and is credited with saving at least 10 lives. 

After completing his service in Vietnam, McCloughan returned to South Haven High School to continue his teaching and coaching career. In 1972, he furthered his education by earning a Master of Arts degree in counseling and psychology from Western Michigan University. 

He retired from teaching in 2008 and received the Michigan Education Association’s 40 years of service award. He was also the recipient of the Wolverine Conference Distinguished Service Award for 38 years of coaching football and baseball, as well as 22 years of coaching wrestling.  

He was inducted into the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1993, the Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008. McCloughan was also a Michigan High School Athletic Association wrestling official for 25 years. 

Nearly 50 years after his heroic actions during the Vietnam War, President Donald J. Trump presented the Medal of Honor to McCloughan during a White House ceremony held July 31, 2017. 

“To many people in this room, Spc. 5 McCloughan has always been their friend, Jim. To others, he’s been ‘coach.’ To those who bravely served with him in Vietnam, he’s still called their ‘doc.’ To his parents, Scotty and Margaret, both watching from heaven, he will always be their son. But 1779114167, [to] 320 million grateful American hearts, [he] carries one immortal title — and that title is ‘hero,'” Trump said.  

Some of McCloughan’s other awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device and oak leaf cluster and the Purple Heart with bronze oak leaf cluster. 

He lives in South Haven, Michigan, with his wife Chérie and their children, Jamie, Matt, Kami and Kara.

This article is part of a weekly series called “Medal of Honor Monday,” in which we highlight one of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients who have received the U.S. military’s highest medal for valor.