Miguel Keith
Born June 2, 1951, in San Antonio, Texas, Miguel Keith moved with his family to Omaha in 1965. He was known to his family and friends as “Mike”. The Keith family lived in North Omaha, where Mike attended McMillian Junior High, then North High School. Mike had a group of close friends who talk about his quick smile, energy, and respect for everybody. In December 1968, before finishing high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Mike made it clear that he wanted to go to Vietnam. Because he was only 17 years old, Mike needed his mother’s permission to enlist. He joined as “Miguel Keith”, originally enlisting in the Marine Corps Reserve, but then later enlisted into the regular Marine Corps on May 1, 1969.
When he arrived at Marine boot camp on May 2, 1969, Miguel quickly impressed fellow recruits with his energy, presence, and seriousness about his job. Fellow recruits say anything Miguel did, he did 100%.
After graduating from recruit training, Miguel was promoted to Private First Class and went to Basic Infantry Training School and attended machine gunner school, where he earned 100% on his gunner training. Miguel went to Combined Action Program training (CAP School), then deployed to South Vietnam. Before heading to the Combined Action Platoons (CAPs) Miguel and other Marines learned everybody’s specialty so they could replace someone when necessary. They also learned cultural dos and don’ts and some Vietnamese language to gain the support of the Vietnamese. Miguel was assigned as a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Amphibious Force and was promoted to Lance Corporal.
Near the end of the Vietnam War, the US Marine Corps introduced a program where Marines worked as a team with local village militias to protect rural villages. Static CAP units lived in or near a village, to ward off the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army and keep them from receiving support from the villages, while roving CAP units travelled among two or more villages, and spent their nights in the fields, so the enemy wouldn’t know where they were.
The village militias were called Popular Forces (PFs) and were generally a platoon of boys and men who were too young to too old to fight in the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam. A CAP unit included a rifle squad about 13 Marines and a U.S. Navy Corpsman. The CAP units trained the PFs, provided some medical care, and helped around the village, in addition to conducting night patrols and security during the day. Marines volunteered to be part of a CAP unit, and CAP volunteers were highly motivated, idealistic, and cared about the Vietnamese people. Miguel was assigned to CAP unit 1-3-2, a static unit located in An Diem village.
After arriving at An Diem, in November 1969, Miguel assumed his responsibilities as a rifleman in Combined Action Platoon 1-3-2. By living with the villagers, the Marines supported the Vietnamese Popular Forces (PFs) in protecting the villages from the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA). In addition to regular nighttime patrols and minimal daytime security, the squad of Marines trained worked with, relaxed, and played sports with the PFs. They spent time around the school, and assisted villagers in harvesting rice and drawing water from the well.
During the night of May 8th, 1970, the platoon was attacked by a combined force of about 200 VC and NVA soldiers coming from several directions. About a dozen Marines and the village PFs fought through the night against intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) fire. The assault began when enemy fire hit the bunker close to where Miguel was standing, wounding Miguel. Despite his injuries Miguel rushed forward, firing as he advanced, stopping five enemy soldiers, and then he ran to check the perimeter. A grenade detonated near Miguel, knocking him to the ground and further wounding him. Fighting pain and weakness from blood loss, he struggled to his feet, braving fire from 25 enemy soldiers massing to attack. Miguel killed four, and the rest of the soldiers fled. An enemy soldier coming from another direction shot Miguel in the back, and 30 minutes later he died. Miguel’s bravery inspired the surviving Marines and PFs to hold back the attack.
When daylight came, Marine helicopters arrived to drive out the remaining enemy. In addition to Miguel, three PFS were killed. Eight Marines and 13 PFs were wounded. The enemy lost 28 soldiers.
Miguel’s best friend John Easley was at the Keith home when Miguel’s mother received news of his death. She screamed in sorrow. More of Miguel’s friends quickly arrived to comfort Mrs. Keith. “My Micheal’s dead,” she cried. Lance Corporal Miguel Keith was buried with full military honors in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha. For his actions on May 8th, 1970, Miguel posthumously received the Medal of Honor, and Purple Heart. Vice President Spiro Agnew presented the Medal of Honor to Miguel’s mother, Delores Keith on September 9, 1971.
L/CPL Keith’s Medal of Honor Citation reads:
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Combined Action platoon 1-3-2. During the early morning L/Cpl. Keith was seriously wounded when his platoon was subjected to a heavy ground attack by a greatly outnumbering enemy force. Despite his painful wounds, he ran across the fire-swept terrain to check the security of vital defensive positions and then, while completely exposed to view, proceeded to deliver a hail of devastating machine gun fire against the enemy. Determined to stop 5 of the enemy soldiers approaching the command post, he rushed forward, firing as he advanced. He succeeded in disposing of 3 of the attackers and in dispersing the remaining 2. At this point, a grenade detonated near L/Cpl. Keith, knocking him to the ground and inflicting further severe wounds. Fighting pain and weakness from loss of blood, he again braved the concentrated hostile fire to charge an estimated 25 enemy soldiers who were massing to attack. The vigor of his assault and his well-placed fire eliminated 4 of the enemy soldiers while the remainder fled for cover. During this valiant effort, he was mortally wounded by an enemy soldier. By his courageous and inspiring performance in the face of almost overwhelming odds, L/Cpl. Keith contributed in large measure to the success of his platoon in routing a numerically superior enemy force and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service.”
Besides the Medal of Honor, L/CPL Keith was also received the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with Bronze Star Device, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Adding to these honors he’s received, L/CPL Keith also had a United States Naval vessel named after him, the USS Miquel Keith (ESB 5). This ship is a Lewis B. Puller-class Expeditionary Sea Base, one of only 4 of its type in service in the U.S. Navy as of January 2023. ESB’s are highly flexible, modular platforms that are optimized to support a variety of maritime-based missions including special operations force and airborne mine countermeasures support operations, in addition to humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions. ESB’s include a four-spot flight deck and hangar and a versatile mission deck and are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets.
