Nguyễn Văn Kiệt Nguyễn Văn Kiệt was a Petty Officer Third Class in the Republic of Vietnam Navy , one of only two South Vietnamese and the only South Vietnamese Navy member , to be awarded the Navy Cross for actions during the Vietnam War . The other recipient was ARVN PFC Trần Văn Bảy ) . In April 1972 , United States Navy SEAL Lt . Thomas Norris was one of the few remaining SEALs in Vietnam . When Lt . Col . Iceal Hambleton was shot down behind enemy lines , aerial combat search and rescue operations failed , leading to the loss of five additional aircraft and the death of 11 or more airmen , two captured , and three more down and needing rescue . Norris was tasked with mounting a ground operation to recover Lt . Col . Hambleton , 1st Lt . Mark Clark ( son of World war II General Mark W . Clark ) , and 1st Lt . Bruce Walker from behind enemy lines . Kiệt was one of five Vietnamese commandos to accompany Norris , and when the others refused to pursue the mission further , volunteered to assist Norris . They successfully brought out two of the three downed airmen from more than behind enemy lines . Rescue operations . Kiệt was a member of the Vietnamese frogmen Naval Advisory Detachment , Sea Commando team , from Đà Nẵng . He was assigned to assist Norris in bringing three downed U . S . air men from more than behind enemy lines . OV - 10 pilot Clark was closest to the team ’ s position and would be rescued first . Clark was relayed instructions to get in the water and float downstream where Norris and his team would intercept him . Anderson ordered Norris to take his team no more than forward and wait for the survivors to come to them , but Norris defied the order , turned off his radio and avoiding numerous enemy patrols , went twice that distance . Anderson , Norris , and Kiệt , along with four other Vietnamese commandos set up an overwatch position near the Miêu Giang River , which ran near the positions of both downed airmen . Clark was seriously weakened by five days hiding from the enemy with little to eat . On the night of 9 April , Norris , Kiệt and the commandos retrieved him from the river and got him to friendly territory . The next night they set out to find Hambleton . During their search that night two of the commandos refused to press the mission further , saying they " refused to follow an American just to rescue an American . " As dawn approached , Norris was going to proceed alone when Kiệt volunteered to stay with him . They took an abandoned sampan and cautiously searched the river shore for two more hours without success . They reluctantly returned to their forward operating base to rest and hope they would be more successful the next night . Forward air controller Harold Icke on Bilk 11 fixed Hambleton ' s position during the day so Norris and Kiệt could find him that night . On the night of 12 April , Norris and Kiệt found a deserted village and clothing which they used to disguise themselves as fishermen . They took advantage of the abandoned sampan to row quietly up the river . Even in the pitch dark and dense fog , they could see large numbers of North Vietnamese soldiers and tanks on the shoreline . Traveling upriver in the sampan , they broke out of the heavy fog and found themselves under the Cam Lộ bridge . They had passed Hambleton ' s position more than 30 minutes ago . Turning around , they finally found Hambleton sitting in a clump of bushes , alive but partly delirious . Sunrise was coming , and although Norris thought it best to wait until dark to return downriver , he needed to be evacuated immediately . Despite the risk , they hid Hambleton in the bottom of the sampan , covered him with bamboo , and started downriver . Their sampan was soon spotted by North Vietnamese troops , some of whom fired at them , but Norris and Kiệt could not afford to return fire . They traveled down river and Norris called in air support to eliminate the North Vietnamese shooting at them from the northern bank . They rescued Clark and Hambleton , but Walker was discovered and killed by the NVA before they could return to rescue him . A book written about Kiệt ' s heroism by William Charles Anderson was later adapted into a 1988 movie , " Bat * 21 " . In 1999 , after the release of considerable classified information , a second book , " The Rescue of Bat 21 " , was published by Darrel D . Whitcomb . Kiệt emigrated to the United States , and , as of 2008 , resided in Washington State . Navy Cross citation . Thomas Norris readily supported nomination of Kiệt for the Navy Cross , the highest award the U . S . Navy can give to a foreign national . The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to :