The Patriot Post® · Profiles of Valor: CPT David Christian USA
Some of our nation’s most decorated combat Veterans are not Medal of Honor recipients. Among those is Vietnam Veteran, Army Captain David Christian.
David is a Florida native, born in Gainesville. His family moved to Levittown, Pennsylvania, where his mother, Dorothy Christian, raised David and his three siblings. Notably, Dorothy had been an aide to GEN Douglas MacArthur in World War II, so he was imbued with the spirit of service.
David graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1966, and enlisted in the Army at age 17. He rapidly advanced through the enlisted ranks to sergeant in just one year, and was then admitted to the Army Officer Candidate School at age 18 — becoming the youngest Army officer in the 20th century.
Following OCS, he completed Army Airborne School and Army Special Forces training, joining the ranks of the Green Berets.
In 1968, David deployed to Vietnam, serving with the 1st Infantry Division – 75th Rangers (LRC), working behind enemy lines with the 11th Armored Cavalry under MG George Patton IV. He then served with 1st Battalion 26th Infantry. During his combat tour, he led his Ranger/Recon Teams to rout over 50 enemy Base Camps, and his men often said they “owned the jungle.”
Over the next year, then-1LT Christian (code name Victor Six — the title of his biography) earned the second highest military award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross. He also earned two Silver Stars, the third highest award for valor, and two Bronze Stars (V). He was wounded seven times, adding seven Purple Hearts to his record.
His DSC citation notes:
While serving with Combat Support Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, First Lieutenant Christian distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 29 October 1968 while in charge of the lead element of a reconnaissance-in-force mission ten miles northwest of Quan Loi. During an attempt to flank enemy positions, Lieutenant Christian’s nine-man unit came under heavy rocket-propelled grenade, small arms and automatic weapons fire. After firing several light antitank weapons, he led an assault on the hostile strongholds, killing three North Vietnamese and causing others to flee. As he and his comrades advanced they again received intense small arms and machine gun fire and three men were wounded. Lieutenant Christian sent the casualties and the medic to the rear, and then led his troops forward until they became pinned down within ten meters of a bunker.
His citation continues:
Disregarding his safety, he assaulted the fortification single-handedly and destroyed it with hand grenades. The communists were reinforced by approximately thirty men, forcing the reconnaissance team to take cover behind a berm. Despite the enemy’s devastating fire superiority, Lieutenant Christian attacked them with two antitank weapons. He was painfully wounded in the hand, but refused medical care and returned to the berm to direct artillery fire. When friendly reinforcements arrived two hours later, he directed them to cover his left flank while he attempted to evacuate his casualties. Although wounded again by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade, he did not permit himself to be treated until the other injured men had been evacuated.
His DSC citation concludes, “Lieutenant Christian’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.”
His second Silver Star for actions 10 miles south of Quan Loi 10 days before his DSC actions is equally remarkable, as were his Silver Star actions a month earlier near Nu-Ba Cam Mountain.
In January 1969, David suffered severe burns in a napalm attack. He was initially treated at hospitals in Vietnam to stabilize his condition, and in February, he was transferred to the 106 General Hospital in Japan.
While recovering in Japan at age 20, he was promoted to Captain and then medically retired at age 21. His mother pinned on his Captain bars.
Of his Vietnam service, David says, “I was born at the right time to serve in the right place with the bravest men in the world.”
Once stateside, he was cared for by his wife Peggy as he continued his education, graduating from Villanova University in 1972. He then studied law at Rutgers University until 1976, when he left to serve fellow Vietnam Veterans in various capacities, including services for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He would later help author legislation on PTSD care for Vets. He was also instrumental in raising nearly $10 million in private donations for the construction and maintenance of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.
He also served in several advisory capacities under President Ronald Reagan.
David was elected National Commander of the Legion of Valor in 1978. LoV is a Veterans organization founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, fidelity to our Constitution, and civil liberties and freedom. He would serve with the U.S. Senate as a Senior Advisor for National Defense, Foreign Relations, and Veterans Benefits.
In 2011, he completed his final requirement for graduation from Rutgers Law School and then earned a master’s degree in international politics from Middlebury College. He then established his business, DAC Consulting.
In 2023, he was inducted into the Army OCS Hall of Fame. In his remarks, he noted: “Almost everybody in this room has experienced something that causes them pain, emotional pain or physical pain. The average man in World War II fought 40 days, the average infantryman in Vietnam fought 240 days.”
He added: “Battle is really horrendous, war is hell. And when bullets are flying, it’s really difficult; some of the people you loved, some of the people you cared for, you tell them you got their six, and they have your six, and they take a bullet.”
David and Peggy have raised their four children in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
CPT David Christian: An ordinary man faced with extraordinary circumstances, he summoned the greatest measure of courage to place his life in imminent peril to save others. His example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty — is eternal. Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.
“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of American Liberty, and for our nation’s Veterans, First Responders, and their families.
(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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