He was the first Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War for his defense of Camp Nam Dong near Laos in 1964.
He enlisted in the Army in 1958 and earned a green beret of the Special Forces at the U.S. Army Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He retired from military service with the rank of colonel in 1988.
He received a bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska and a master's degree in government from Campbell University in North Carolina.