Fred Garland Bragg Jr. |
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Fred G. Bragg Jr. attended BYU his freshman year of college, 1960-1961, where he had also applied to return in the fall of 1967. First Lieutenant Bragg died while serving as an artillery forward observer for Battery B, 4th Battalion, 42nd Artillery on the day of July 12, 1967. On that day the enemy forces had managed to pin down his company with small arms and mortar fire. When the company commander was killed Lt. Bragg took charge and was able to regroup them into a more secure and defendable position. Moving bravely among his men he boosted their moral by giving them the needed encouragement. Lt. Bragg was injured in this effort but continued to direct deadly fire on the insurgent forces. He continued to do this until a mortar round took out his last existing radio. When the enemy forces began to advance on Lt. Bragg and his men, Lt. Bragg stayed in the open to defend his troops and poured round after round of deadly fire into the advancing enemy force. Due to his actions on that day First Lieutenant Fred G. Bragg was awarded posthumously the nations second highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross. Fred G. Bragg served his country for three years and was due to return home form his tour of duty soon after he was killed. Lt. Bragg had also earned several other medals, not least of which was the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. One newspaper article cited a commendation as having said that he had received the awards for "masterful precision" in directing supporting artillery fire into enemy positions. Lt. Bragg was a true credit to his family, his faith, the U.S. Army and the United States of America. | |
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Contact Information: Wendell Bragg 110 K St. NE Auburn, WA98002 wwbragg@hotmail.com |
Written By: Cadet Lacy D. Croft III |
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please feel free to contact us by mail or email, listed below.
| Memorial Hall 380 Wells ROTC Bldg Brigham Young University Provo, UT 84602-1048 |
(memhall@byu.edu) |