Ace Cozzalio’s Heroic Actions
The Battle of Phu My

On January 25, 1969, in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam, Charlie Company, 5^th of the 60^th Infantry advances across a dry, grass-covered, rice paddy toward a tree line. Unknowingly, the soldiers are walking directly into an NVA (North Vietnamese Army) ambush. Ahead, inside a camouflaged, heavily fortified machine-gun bunker, several NVA gunners patiently lie in wait. When the soldiers are within close range of the bunker, the enemy gunners open fire, killing the company commander and four others. The remaining ninety soldiers scatter across the open rice paddy, taking cover in the knee-high grass, and are pinned down by the intense machine-gun and AK-47 fire. The soldiers return fire, but it is ineffective against the heavily fortified bunker. 

After being advised of the battle, First Lieutenant Ace Cozzalio, flying lead gunship for an air cavalry team, immediately diverts his two AH-1 Cobra gunships and two OH-6 Loaches (small scout helicopters) to the battle area. From high above, Ace assesses the situation and quickly determines that a Cobra gunship attack is impossible because the friendly soldiers are too close to the enemy bunker.

Instead, Ace directs the two small, highly maneuverable Loaches to attack the bunker, but after several passes, the enemy machine-guns are still firing. By this time, the infantry soldiers have been pinned down for almost two hours and running low on ammo.

Cozzalio radios the lead Loach pilot instructing him to land in an open area behind the battlefield where he will exchange aircraft. Once there, Ace exits the Cobra, runs to the Loach, and straps himself into the pilot seat. Seconds later, he lifts offs, gains altitude, and turns left to line up on the bunker.

Despite overwhelming enemy machine-gun and small arms fire, Cozzalio dives to attack the bunker head-on with the aircraft’s miniguns blazing, firing 2,000 rounds a minute into the bunker gun ports. After coming to a brief high-hover in front of the bunker, Cozzalio calmly backs his helicopter upward at a 45-degree angle to reposition his aircraft before making a diving minigun attack directly into the face of the bunker. He repeats this dangerous maneuver for a total of three minigun attacks.

The vicious assaults momentarily suppress the enemy’s response, enabling Ace to make an incredibly bold move. At the end of his last diving attack, he bravely lands his aircraft on top of the bunker while a grenade is tossed into the rear entrance. Quickly lifting off, the grenade explodes, and his aircraft narrowly escapes the shrapnel and concussion. The enemy bunker is destroyed along with the enemy combatants inside.

This extraordinary heroic act saves the lives of over ninety ­Infantry Soldiers.

For his courage and gallantry, 1LT Ace Cozzalio is presented the Silver Star award on the day following the two-day battle. On May 7, 1969, Ace’s award is upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award.

In recent years, new details of the events are offered by five eyewitnesses. This new information justifies a request of Congress that First Lieutenant Ace Cozzalio be awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumously). The Friends of Ace support and endorse this effort.