More detail on this person: CW2 Roger E Waggie If Roy Benavidez hadn't been awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Vietnam War, I probably wouldn't have written about him July 7. But when I learned that more money was needed to finish work on a memorial statue of him in the little town of Cuero, Texas, I figured the cause was worthy, despite the decorated soldier's tenuous ties to this area. I have since learned that those ties are stronger than I thought. Benavidez was a staff sergeant in the Green Berets when he volunteered to ride a helicopter to the rescue of eight survivors from a 12-man reconnaissance team in the jungle west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam, on May 2, 1968. He spent six hours carrying wounded comrades to rescue helicopters, recovering classified documents and fighting off the enemy despite suffering more than 50 bullet and shrapnel wounds. He received the Distinguished Service Cross that year but was not awarded the Medal of Honor until 1981, partly because some who witnessed his actions could not be found or thought he had died. My July 7 column prompted Post 40 of the Roanoke AMVETS, a volunteer veterans organization, to send $1,000 to the Texas memorial, which is one of at least two that are planned. It also brought a call from Nolan Jackson, an AMVETS member who served three tours with the Army in Vietnam. Jackson knew Roger Waggie, who flew the helicopter that took two tries under enemy pounding to gather Benavidez and the recon team survivors and fly them to safety. In the 1980s, Waggie lived with his then-wife and family on Ferdinand Avenue in Southwest Roanoke. He spoke with a reporter in 1981 just as Benavidez was receiving his medal from President Reagan. Waggie, who flew with the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, recalled that his "Slick" troop carrier returned with more than 40 bullet holes. Benavidez, covered with blood, lay collapsed on the cockpit floor between him and his co-pilot, David R. Hoffman. He recalled flying through a wall of enemy fire, and said he had been told that Benavidez died of his wounds. He said he and his fellow soldiers had been told to expect no medals because the mission was a covert operation inside Cambodia. He was shocked when the hero called him from Texas in 1976. He promptly provided an affidavit testifying to Benavidez's heroics, but could not afford to travel to Washington for the award ceremony, he said. Waggie eventually moved to his hometown of Craigsville, in Augusta County, where he operated a restaurant called Mildred's Lunch. He married Lisa Wilhelm, a psychiatric nurse, in 1988. They were living with their daughter in Goshen when he died of cancer Aug. 4, 1997. He was 52. Wilhelm told me by telephone Friday that her husband was "one of the most wonderful, open-hearted people you'd ever want to meet. ... He wanted to save everybody. That was his goal in life." His obituary said his military honors included the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Purple Heart and Air Medal with 38 oak-leaf clusters. Roy Benavidez and others campaigned successfully for him to receive a posthumous Silver Star for retrieving Benavidez and the eight survivors. Some Green Berets believed her husband merited the Medal of Honor, too, Wilhelm said. Like many survivors of wartime horrors, Waggie also had post-traumatic stress disorder and experienced flashbacks and sleeping difficulties. "I think we have no idea of what people go through when they've got service-related trauma," Wilhelm said. Trying to help them can be "a real dilemma." Waggie was married three times and had three daughters. Wilhelm and Cherah, 14, use the Internet to keep in touch with Noel Benavidez, the son of the Medal of Honor recipient. I think Wilhelm is right: Many of us, especially those of us in the baby boomer generation, have no real idea of what our fighting people face when they go to war. It's something to ponder.
Burial information: Craigsville Memorial Cemetery, Craigsville, VA
This information was last updated 03/09/2021
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Date posted on this site: 04/13/2025
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