‘Nam Hero Finally Gets His Silver Star

The U.S. Marine Corps made it official Friday, awarding the Silver Star to Brian Mayer for his rescue of fellow Marines three decades ago in Vietnam.

With the help of a cane, Mayer, of Long Island, N.Y., walked down a center walkway at the Washington Marine Barracks to accept the honor from Assistant Commandant of U.S.

Marine Corps Gen. Richard I. Neal, as 5,500 people watched.

“Tonight in front of you is a hero,” Neal said. “He exemplifies all that is right about our Marine Corps.”

Acknowledging the three-decades wait for the award, Neal added: “Sometimes we do make a mistake. But we try to make up for it.”

Mayer, 48, was a 19-year-old lance corporal when he drove his small all-terrain vehicle into an intense fire-fight during the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive in 1968 to rescue his wounded comrades. Two days later, he rescued another wounded Marine.

Mayer still limps from a bullet wound.

Mayer had been a nameless hero until a Marine who had watched his actions teamed up with Mayer’s wife to get him recognition.

Mayer said before Friday’s ceremony: “I was just doing a job. If the situation was given to me again, I think I’d do it without hesitation.

“These guys are my brothers, my friends. They would have done the same thing for me. It’s for those who didn’t make it, for the other unsung heroes of the war.”