Gary M. Rose

In 1998, a joint CNN and Time magazine report incorrectly described Operation Tailwind as a mission to kill American defectors and claimed that American troops used sarin gas on civilians. Rose was among the Tailwind veterans called to the Pentagon in late June for interviews on the operation, and they refuted the claims. The story was retracted after a Department of Defense report concluded that the story was incorrect. After the controversy, an initiative began by SOG veterans to get their comrades' heroism in Operation Tailwind recognized. In 2013, Rose received a call from Eugene McCarley, who commanded the company in Operation Tailwind, who told him that Army veteran and SOG researcher Neil Thorne wanted to request an upgrade to the Medal of Honor for Rose's DSC. Thorne requested information from Rose, and then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter approved the award upgrade in 2016, and Alabama Representative Mo Brooks and Senator Jeff Sessions wrote Rose's name into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, waiving the requirement the medal must be awarded within five years of the action. On 20 September 2017, the White House announced President Donald Trump would present Rose the Medal of Honor on 23 October. On 23 October, President Donald J. Trump presented Rose the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony.

Rose attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating in December 1989 with a Master of Arts in Communication. He worked as a writer of operator, user, and maintenance manuals and training designer for the manufacturing industry before finally retiring in 2010. Rose worked at Raytheon, which he left in 2003. He moved to Huntsville in 2005 to live near a friend who was a fellow Vietnam War veteran. In retirement, Rose remains involved in charity work, mainly through the Knights of Columbus.

In April, when his tour in Vietnam ended, Rose was sent to the Spanish Language School in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. At the school Rose made the decision to attend Officer Candidate School because extending his contract with the Army would enable him to bring his new wife, Margaret, with him to Panama. After completing the school, he was assigned to the 8th Special Forces Group in Panama until August 1973, when he was selected to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning. Rose received his commission as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery in December, and attended the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill. He graduated from Cameron University in Lawton with a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Military Science in December 1977. In 1978, Rose attended the Field Artillery Officer Advanced Course, and then was posted to various successive field assignments in Germany, New Mexico, South Korea, and Fort Sill over the next years. He retired from the Army with the rank of captain in May 1987.

Rose was nominated for the Medal of Honor, but the award was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross due to the classified nature of the mission in Laos. MACV commander General Creighton Abrams formally presented Rose the Distinguished Service Cross on 16 January 1971.

Rose married Margaret in 1971 and has two daughters: Claire Rose and Sarah Bowen, and a son, Michael.

In April 1970, Rose requested transfer to South Vietnam and was assigned to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (SOG), for which the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) provided administrative support. He was based at Forward Operating Base II at Kontum, where he treated the wounded and local civilians. Rose was wounded on his first mission in June 1970, receiving his first Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal. On 11 September, he and a company-size exploitation force of Americans, Vietnamese, and Montagnards were inserted by CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters 70 kilometers inside Laos near Chavane in Operation Tailwind, a diversionary operation. Then-Sergeant Rose was responsible for medical care for fifteen other Americans and 120 Montagnards.

Rose attended basic training at Fort Ord and Infantry Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon. He was promoted to private first class after graduating from the latter and was sent to the United States Army Airborne School due to his high aptitude test scores. Rose entered Special Forces training at Fort Bragg in October, graduating a year later as a Special Forces medic. Rose was first assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He reenlisted to be able to choose where he wanted to serve and in April 1969 was assigned to the 46th Special Forces Company in Lopburi, Thailand, where he trained Thai soldiers and border police medics.

After enlisting in the United States Army in 1967, Rose became a Special Forces combat medic, and in September 1970 distinguished himself in fighting in Laos at Chavane during Operation Tailwind, in which he treated the wounded while fighting People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces. Despite being wounded multiple times during the battle, he treated 60–70 personnel. Rose continued his career in the army and graduated from Officer Candidate School, becoming a Field Artillery officer and reaching the rank of captain before retiring, after which he worked in the manufacturing industry.

Gary Michael Rose (born 17 October 1947) is a retired United States Army officer and a Vietnam War veteran. For his actions during the war, Rose was recommended for the Medal of Honor, but this was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross due to the classified nature of the mission in Laos. He was finally presented the Medal of Honor on 23 October 2017.

Rose was born on 17 October 1947 in Watertown, New York, and later moved to the Los Angeles area. In 1965, he graduated from the James Monroe High School in Northridge. On 4 April 1967, he volunteered for the United States Army to avoid being drafted into the Marine Corps after his father, who had been in the Marine Corps during World War II, suggested one would not want to be a draftee in the Marine Corps.