Alfred
Rascon
Public servant
Born: Chihuahua, Mexico
As
a soldier and public servant, Alfred Rascon has served the
United States with distinction for nearly four decades. In
2000, Rascon was belatedly awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honor for his valorous service in Vietnam as an Army combat
medic.
“We
do not choose our fate or our family circumstances. Those
who have little in life to begin with can find success if
they have survival instincts and are highly motivated to
succeed in life.”
Raised
in the barrios of southern California, Rascon always dreamed
of joining the military. In 1966, as a medic with the 173rd
Airborne Brigade, Rascon repeatedly risked his life in the
face of deadly enemy fire, saving two men despite his own injuries.
Although he was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor
days afterwards, the paperwork was lost in Pentagon red tape
for more than three decades. In 2000, Rascon received the medal
from President William Jefferson Clinton at a White House ceremony.
“I'm
not a role model by choice, but by circumstances, like a
lot of us are. We have a tendency to not understand what
a hero is nowadays. A hero is somebody who gives him- or
herself for others—that's what a hero is.”
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