Humbert Roque Versace Captain Humbert Roque " Rocky " Versace ( July 2 , 1937 – September 26 , 1965 ) was a United States Army officer of Puerto Rican - Italian descent who was awarded the United States ' highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor — for his heroic actions while a prisoner of war ( POW ) during the Vietnam War . He was the first member of the U . S . Army to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions performed in Southeast Asia while in captivity . Early years . Humbert Roque Versace was born in Honolulu , Hawaii on July 2 , 1937 . He was the eldest of five children born to Marie Teresa Rios ( 1917 – 1999 ) — the author of three books , including the " Fifteenth Pelican " , on which " The Flying Nun " ( starring Sally Field ) , the TV series of the 1960s , was based — and Colonel Humbert Joseph Versace ( 1911 – 1972 ) . Versace grew up in Alexandria , Virginia and attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington , D . C . during his freshman and sophomore years . His junior year he attended Frankfurt American High School in Germany . He graduated from Norfolk Catholic High School in his senior year . He joined the Armed Forces in Norfolk , Virginia . As had his father before him , Versace entered the United States Military Academy West Point . He graduated in 1959 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Armor in the U . S . Army . He was a member of Ranger Class 4 - 60 and was awarded the Ranger Tab on December 18 , 1959 . Upon graduation from Ranger School , Capt . Versace attended Airborne School and was awarded the parachutist badge . He then served with 3rd Battalion , 40th Armor , 1st Cavalry Division in the Republic of Korea as an M - 48 tank platoon leader from March 1960 to April 1961 . Captain Versace was then assigned to the 3d U . S . Infantry ( Old Guard ) , where he served as a tank platoon leader in Headquarters and Headquarters Company . After volunteering for duty in Vietnam , he attended the Military Assistance Institute , the Intelligence course at Fort Holabird , Maryland , and the USACS Vietnamese language Course at the Presidio of Monterey . Vietnam War . On May 12 , 1962 , Versace began his first tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam as an intelligence advisor . In May 1963 he volunteered for a six month ' s extension of his tour , planning to attend seminary at the conclusion of his service and join the Catholic priesthood , hoping to return to Vietnam as a missionary working with orphans . Less than two weeks before the end of his tour , on October 29 , 1963 , while acting as intelligence advisor to Detachment A - 23 , 5th Special Forces Group in the Mekong Delta , Versace accompanied several companies of South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense ( CIDG ) troops who had planned to remove a Viet Cong ( VC ) command post located in the U Minh Forest , a Viet Cong stronghold . A VC Main Force battalion ambushed and overran Versace ' s unit , wounding him in the process . He was able to provide enough covering fire so that the CIDG forces could withdraw from the killing zone . A second government force of about 200 men operating only a few thousand yards from the main fight learned of the disaster too late to help . U . S . authorities said the communist radio jammers had knocked out both the main channel and the alternate channel on all local military radios . Versace was captured and taken to a prison deep in the jungle along with two other Americans , Lieutenant Nick Rowe and Sergeant Dan Pitzer . He tried to escape four times , but failed in his attempts . Versace insulted the Viet Cong during the indoctrination sessions and cited the Geneva Convention treaty time after time . The Viet Cong separated Versace from the other prisoners . The last time the prisoners heard his voice , he was loudly singing " God Bless America " . On September 26 , 1965 , North Vietnam ’ s " Liberation Radio ” announced the execution of Captain Humbert Roque Versace . Versace ' s remains have never been recovered . His headstone at Arlington National Cemetery stands above an empty grave and can be located in the Memorial section MG - 108 . Upon learning of their son ' s fate , Marie Teresa Rios Versace and her husband , Colonel Versace , tried to find out what they could about the circumstances . She went to Paris in the late 1960s , trying unsuccessfully to see the North Vietnamese delegation as it arrived for peace talks . Rios Versace expressed her frustration and anguish in poems . Nominations to award Versace the Medal of Honor were initiated in 1969 , but the nomination failed and he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star instead . The quest for a Medal of Honor for Versace languished until the " Friends of Rocky Versace " reinitiated the crusade once more in 1999 . Language added by Congress in the 2002 Defense Authorization Act ended the standoff and authorized the award of the nation ' s highest military decoration for combat valor to Versace . On July 8 , 2002 , in a ceremony in the White House East Room , Versace was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President George W . Bush for his heroism , the first time an Army POW had been awarded the nation ' s highest honor for actions in captivity . Present were his surviving siblings , Dr . Stephen Versace , Richard ( former coach of the Indiana Pacers ) , Michael and Trilby Versace . On November 7 , 2008 , the Department of the Army announced that the Silver Star awarded to Versace was revoked because the Silver Star award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor . HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON , DC , 29 December 2009 Medal of Honor citation . Humbert Roque Versace " Rank and organization : " Captain , U . S . Army , Intelligence Advisor , Special Operations " Place : " Republic of Vietnam " Entered service at : " Norfolk , Virginia " Born : " Honolulu , Hawaii " Citation : " In memory . The name Humbert R Versace is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ( " The Wall " ) on Panel 01E , Row 033 . On July 6 , 2002 , Rocky Versace Plaza in Alexandria , Virginia was dedicated in honor of Humbert R . Versace . There is a statue with the likeness of Versace in the Plaza , which was made possible with a donation of $ 125 , 000 raised by the citizens of Alexandria , Virginia . On July 9 , 2002 , the day after the White House Medal of Honor ceremony , Secretary of the Army Thomas E . White and Army Chief of Staff General Eric K . Shinseki inducted Versace into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes . In 2003 , he was inducted into the The Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame . The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame established by the Military Intelligence Corps of the United States Army in 1988 to honor soldiers and civilians who have made exceptional contributions to Military Intelligence . The Hall is administered by the United States Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca , Arizona . The name of Humbert Roque Versace was engraved in " El Monumento de la Recordación " ( Monument of Remembrance ) , dedicated to Puerto Rico ' s fallen military members and situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan , Puerto Rico , and unveiled by Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth McClintock ( see copy of speech ) and PR National Guard Adjutant General Col . David Carrión on Memorial Day , 2007 . Awards and decorations . Among Capt . Humbert Roque Versace ' s military decorations are the following : Badges : Tabs :