Indiana Rangers Receive Top Honor
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve, vice chief of staff of the Army, attaches the Presidential Unit Citation streamer to the guidon of Company D, 151st Infantry Regiment, during a ceremony in Indianapolis, Aug. 29, 2026. The Indiana Rangers received the award for extraordinary heroism during their 1968-69 Vietnam deployment. (Indiana National Guard photo by Spc. Alexander Jensen)
An Indiana National Guard Ranger company whose soldiers became some of the most decorated troops of the Vietnam War has finally received the U.S. military’s highest unit award more than 56 years after coming home.
Veterans of Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry Regiment — known as the Indiana Rangers — were presented the Presidential Unit Citation during a ceremony in Indianapolis on Aug. 29. The award recognizes extraordinary heroism in combat under exceptionally difficult and hazardous conditions.
The Indiana Rangers deployed to Vietnam in December 1968 after months of intensive training. Assigned to II Field Force Vietnam, their small teams conducted long-range reconnaissance and intelligence missions deep in enemy-controlled territory.
Those patrols sent Rangers into areas where they monitored enemy movement, conducted ambushes and raids and gathered intelligence for larger U.S. formations. Teams frequently operated with only five or six soldiers and sometimes encountered enemy forces that substantially outnumbered them.
By the time the unit returned from Vietnam in November 1969, its soldiers had accumulated hundreds of individual decorations.
According to the Army Historical Foundation figures cited by the National Guard Association of the United States, the Rangers received 19 Silver Stars, one Soldier’s Medal, 123 Bronze Stars — including 88 for valor — 101 Purple Hearts, 111 Air Medals and 183 Army Commendation Medals, including 29 for valor. NGAUS says the company received more individual decorations during its one-year deployment than any other Army infantry company in the Vietnam War.
Yet the company itself returned home without a unit award.
That changed this year after the Presidential Unit Citation was approved for Company D. Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana had nominated the Rangers for the recognition earlier in 2026, according to NGAUS.
The Presidential Unit Citation is reserved for units that demonstrate extraordinary heroism in combat, with a level of collective performance comparable to the individual heroism required for the Distinguished Service Cross.
On Aug. 29, Army Gen. Christopher LaNeve, vice chief of staff of the Army, attached the Presidential Unit Citation streamer to Company D’s guidon as surviving Rangers watched from the stage. It was the unit’s first unit-level award for its actions in Vietnam.
More than half a century after their combat tour ended, the Indiana Rangers’ collective record is now formally recognized alongside the individual medals their soldiers earned in Vietnam.
(Source: OAF Nation)
