A giant among heroes

Medal of Honor recipient with 'huge heart' stands tall at Fort Logan cemetery

Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 26, 2007 at midnight

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In a night of heroes, a constellation of courage made up of Silver and Bronze stars, 1st Sgt. Maximo Yabes lit up the sky.

The simple white marker in Fort Logan National Cemetery identifies him as a recipient of the Medal of Honor. But there's no space on the headstone for the story behind the medal, the story of the nightmare that Alpha Company awoke to Feb. 26, 1967, near the village of Phu Hoa Dong, Republic of Vietnam.

Max Yabes died in that place, saving other people's lives.

"What he did makes you think of a big Rambo-type person," said his son, Greg Filter, of Chattanooga, Tenn. "My dad was a small man. But he had a huge heart."

'Best dad he could be'

Max Yabes grew up in the small Oregon logging town of Oakridge, a smart, funny Filipino kid who learned early about the pain of poverty and racism.

Despite his tough life, Yabes' warmth, sense of humor and love of pranks won him a group of loyal high school friends. They called themselves the "Java Joes" because they spent hours at the local cafe, drinking coffee and throwing toothpicks into the ceiling.

Yabes dropped out of high school after his junior year to join the Army, where he found the acceptance and security he needed.

"It was his life. It gave him direction," said Sharon Carlisle, of Eugene, Ore., Yabes' first wife and mother of his two children.

Filter remembers seeing his father only two or three times a year, when he came home from tours with Special Forces in Korea.

"He'd bounce you on his knee, and it felt like we'd never missed a beat," Filter said. "He was the best dad he could be at the time."

Carlisle and Yabes eventually divorced, and Yabes was later stationed at Fort Carson with his second wife, Janis.

Night of honor in Nam

On the night of Feb. 26, 1967, Yabes was serving his second tour of duty in Vietnam as part of Company A, 4th Battalion, 9th Regiment of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division, which had come to a sniper-infested area 20 miles northwest of Saigon to protect a squad of Army engineers.

"Hardly a day went by without some minor contact with the Viet Cong 165th Regiment, one of the best of the enemy main force units," wrote Hugh Mulligan, Associated Press war correspondent. "But on (that) night, the men of Alpha Company detected an unusual amount of activity in the woods."

At 1 a.m., as most of the men slept, the attack began.

"Waves of Viet Cong, blowing whistles and laying down deadly automatic weapons fire, were inside the barbed-wire perimeter within 15 minutes," Mulligan wrote.

There were questions later about whether allied soldiers from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam - or perhaps Viet Cong in ARVN uniforms - opened fire on Americans inside the command post. But there was never any question about the ferocity of the attack itself. For four hours, the night rained bullets and mortar shells.

Several grenades landed near Yabes, who shouted a warning and used his body as a shield to protect other soldiers. Then, despite wounds from shrapnel, he dodged enemy fire to reach another bunker 50 yards away.

Grabbing a grenade launcher from a fallen comrade, Yabes fired point-blank into the attacking Viet Cong, stopping once to move two wounded soldiers to safety.

When Yabes saw the enemy move inside the perimeter with a machine gun, he knew what he had to do.

"On his own, he dashed across the exposed area, assaulted the machine gun, killed the crew (and) destroyed the weapon," his Medal of Honor citation says.

Yabes was killed as he tried to return to the bunker, but his efforts made it possible for Alpha Company to hold fast. The military later confirmed that he and his troops had killed 92 Viet Cong, half of them inside the barbed-wire perimeter.

The news reached Carlisle and her children a day later, on Feb. 27. The story of Yabes' bravery came as no surprise.

"That was Max," Carlisle said. "He would have done it for anybody."

River memorial

He had done it before. Thirty years after his death, Yabes' longtime buddies - the Java Joes - decided to erect a memorial in his honor. They put Yabes' bust and a fountain in Greenwaters Park, just outside of Oakridge along the middle fork of the Willamette River.

It was a place where everyone from town went swimming, and it was the place where Max Yabes first became a hero.

"Right behind the memorial is the area where my father saved another kid from drowning," Filter said. "I can't think of a more appropriate place to put his monument."

Around the same time as the memorial ceremony, a padlocked metal box appeared on Filter's doorstep. Inside, he found his father's personal effects, sent by Janis, his widow: a wedding band, a watch, his uniforms and his medals, including the Medal of Honor.

The uniforms reminded Filter that his father hadn't been a big man. The medals reminded him that his father had been a giant.

For valor and gallantry

Two other soldiers buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War and Civil War:

• U.S. Army Maj. William E. Adams

Born June 16, 1939, in Casper, Wyo., and became a resident of Fort Collins. Died May 25, 1971, in Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam.

A pilot with the A/227th Assault Helicopter Company, 52d Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade, Adams volunteered to fly a lightly armed helicopter to rescue three wounded soldiers from a small-fire base. Under heavy enemy fire, he directed the attacks of supporting gunships and picked up the wounded soldiers. Adams' helicopter was hit and crippled as he left the base, but he regained control and tried to land. Despite his efforts, the helicopter exploded and crashed amid heavy enemy fire.

President Ford presented the medal to Adams' family Aug. 8, 1974.

• Pvt. John Davis, of Company F, 17th Indiana Mounted Infantry

Born in Carroll, Ky., and entered the service in Indianapolis. Citation awarded June 17, 1865, for capturing the flag of Worrill Grays at Culloden, Ga., in April 1865.

Source: Congressional Medal Of Honor Society

Ryckmanl@RockyMountainNews.com

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