May 17, 2008
Bronze Star is honor delayed, not denied
Navy recognizes a fallen officer whose valor had long been a secret
Article tools
E-mail
Print
Single page
Reprints- Text size:
Navy Lt. Melvin Spence Dry dropped out of a helicopter into choppy waters off the coast of North Vietnam in June 1972. On a highly classified mission to rescue two escaped American prisoners of war, he died the moment he hit the water.
But because the mission was top-secret, Dry's valor went officially unrecognized. No medals, no commendations and no place of honor among the fallen at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1968.
Even his parents were told that he died in a training exercise.
But his father, also an academy graduate, never bought that explanation.
He spent the rest of his life seeking the truth and arguing that his son should be honored, a cause picked up by Dry's Annapolis classmates after his father died in 1997.
Yesterday, in a ceremony in the academy's hallowed Memorial Hall that was attended by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dry was awarded the Bronze Star posthumously.
Navy officials at the event could not recall the last time that someone had received the award so long after death.
"This gathering here today fulfills my parents' greatest wish," Dry's brother, Robert Dry, told about 200 people gathered in Memorial Hall.
Dry, a 1968 graduate of the Naval Academy who died at age 26, was the last member of the elite Navy SEALs to die during the Vietnam War, officials said.
Because the operation involved saving two escaped prisoners, details surrounding the mission in which he died remained classified for years, Navy officials said.
Even when details emerged, the military declined to honor Dry or any other SEAL for their efforts during the rescue mission.
After reading the article, a Navy officer who was part of the rescue operation submitted an application for Dry to be awarded the Bronze Star.
"It took a long time for this recognition to manifest itself," Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan said at yesterday's ceremony. "Today is ... the result of tireless efforts of many of you."
The story of Dry's death began in early 1972, when U.S. airmen being held as prisoners of war at the infamous prison known as the "Hanoi Hilton" began planning an escape, according to Proceedings. The prisoners planned to steal a boat and travel down the Red River to the Gulf of Tonkin.
When military officials got word of the escape plans through intelligence operations, they sent Navy SEAL Team One on a rescue mission called Operation Thunderhead.
Dry commanded the team's Platoon Alpha, which was assigned to carry out the mission. He and about a dozen other SEALs headed to sea aboard a submarine, the USS Grayback.
Once close enough to the coast, Dry and other SEALs were to head for a small island off the mouth of the Red River in a mini-submarine attached to the larger ship, establish an observation post and watch for the escaped prisoners, according to Proceedings.
The SEALs never made it to the island. During a reconnaissance mission in preparation for the rescue, the mini-sub ran out of battery power shortly after midnight, and Dry and three other SEALs had to abandon it. They treaded water for eight hours several miles off the coast, according to Proceedings, until they were rescued by helicopter the next morning and taken to the command ship for Thunderhead.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
 Anne Arundel County photo galleriesAnne Arundel County resources Useful phone numbers, Web sites and information for county residents The Sun's Anne Arundel County bureau Contact information for reporters, advertising, delivery and news tips |
Popular stories: Maryland News
- Man fatally shot in Columbia
- Jealous to become NAACP's new president, CEO
- Next stop: Ocean floor
- 1968, 2008: 'Wars don't die'
- Drug dealer gets life in prison
Anne Arundel County photo galleries
 | |
My MarylandSubmit photos from around the state and view those from other readers Also see: Charm Cityscapes | |