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A rare and Honorable gathering

The University of Tampa recognizes three alumni who earned Medals of Honor in Vietnam before attending.

TAMPA - The three men circled the red-clothed tables, not far from the red carpet laid in their honor, and kept moving their pens.

They signed their names on programs and in books. They signed as their likenesses, painted in black on brass-colored plaques, watched over them from easels.

They signed for the mayor.

"I-O-R-I-O," said a man in Pam Iorio's stead.

"I-O-R-I-O?" asked James "Jim" Taylor, who uses a hearing aid. "That's a mouthful."

Later, they signed for a girl in a black skirt who had belted out the national anthem for them Thursday as part of an event in their honor at the University of Tampa.

Taylor, Ronald Ray and Harold Fritz are all recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, and all three graduated from the small private school.

Plaques for them will hang in an area of the Macdonald-Kelce Library.

Just 3,460 medals have been awarded since 1863 for valor in action against an enemy. There are only 120 living recipients of the rare commendation, which is often awarded posthumously, as it was this year for Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, a Tampa soldier killed in Iraq.

Three of the living are alumni of the University of Tampa, which college officials said could be unprecedented for a school. Excluding service and military academies, that might be true for a small university, said Carol Cepregi, of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society in South Carolina, though she said the society doesn't keep such records.

It seemed ironic to Ray that he, Fritz and Taylor had autographs in such demand. During his speech, Ray, 63, who lives in Tarpon Springs, said American society valued celebrities more than military figures.

That was fine with him, he said, because the military's role is to serve and protect; to be a second thought so people could be free to live as they saw fit.

But they were the celebrities Thursday, as much as the trio tried to deflect the attention and spread honor to others.

"I'm going to follow the three B's," Taylor, 67, said during his speech. "Be accurate, be short and be gone."

Then, he thanked a World War II veteran in the crowd for his service and told young people to serve their country when called upon. Then, he sat down.

Fritz, 61, spoke about how the university represented great freedom to him. It was a place he felt free to civilly debate students opposed to the Vietnam War when he went there. It represented freedom now being protected in Iraq, he said.

"As we sit in this air-conditioned building, and boy it's steaming hot on the outside," Fritz said, "I think of the soldiers and Marines in foxholes in Iraq."

The trio had ended their tours of duty in Vietnam when they first came to the University of Tampa, at different times, using the military's "Bootstrap" tuition aid program. They wore civilian clothes and mixed in, just a bit older than other students.

Most never knew that a wounded Fritz directed men, assisted wounded, distributed ammo, manned a machine gun and used a pistol and bayonet to charge the enemy.

Most never knew that Ray threw grenades to free his men pinned down by enemy fire before he dived on a grenade, injuring his legs, to save two of his men, and continued fighting.

Most never knew that Allen rescued several men from burning vehicles, relocated a medical evacuation landing zone, manned a machine gun and loaded the wounded into his own vehicle while being wounded by a mortar round.

But that's the way the trio wanted it, they said. They wanted normalcy. As Taylor returned to campus for the first time in 30 years to gaze at the silver minarets at Plant Hall, he remembered things like the professor he never saw leave his podium. He later found out it was because he was too scared of showing students that he was short. He had been standing on soda cases.

He remembered taking college friend John Matuszak to the MacDill Air Force Base Officers Club, only to get thrown out.

The next day the general on base said he - a Medal of Honor recipient - was always welcome. Matuszak, a future NFL star known for rowdiness, was not.

"You just got this homey feeling," Fritz said remembering. "It's like coming back to home again."

He recalled being in a sculpture class and inviting his mostly female classmates to his Brandon garage to hang papier-mache projects to dry because their places had little room.

He had the best of intentions, he said. But when the class showed up, most in bathing suits to abate the hot Florida sun, Fritz's wife was not pleased.

She ended up helping out on the project, just to monitor her husband.

As Fritz and Taylor joked about the past while signing program after program after the event, a military officer stopped by to give them stipends of $150 in travelers checks.

"Beer money," he said. It was just another meaningful tribute, the kind the men wanted.

Justin George can be reached at 813 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com

63, graduated with a history degree in 1972.

RANK AND ORGANIZATION: Captain (then 1st lieutenant), U.S. Army, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division.

PLACE AND DATE: la Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam, June 19, 1966. Ray killed several Viet Cong with grenades when his ambush patrol was attacked. When a grenade landed near two of his men, he shielded them and was wounded.

67, graduated in 1972 with a degree in criminology

RANK AND ORGANIZATION: Captain (then 1st lieutenant), U.S. Army, Troop B, 1st Cavalry, Americal Division.

PLACE AND DATE: West of Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam, Nov. 9, 1967. Taylor's troop was attacking a fortified position when it came under intense enemy fire. One armored cavalry assault vehicle was hit, wounding all five crew members. Taylor pulled the wounded to safety despite a hail of enemy fire. Taylor also personally removed all the crew of another hit vehicle. Moments later the vehicle exploded. Wounded by a mortar round, Taylor still returned to his vehicle and fought back with his machine gun.

61, graduated in 1975 with a degree in elementary education.

RANK AND ORGANIZATION: Captain, U.S. Army, Troop A, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

PLACE AND DATE: Binh Long Province, Republic of Vietnam, Jan. 11, 1969. Fritz's men were en route to escort a truck convoy when they were ambushed. Despite being wounded, Fritz leaped to the top of his burning vehicle and directed his men. He ran from vehicle to vehicle in view of enemy gunners and repositioned men, assisted wounded and distributed ammunition. He manned a machine gun and helped break the assault. During another enemy charge, Fritz charged back with a pistol and bayonet and led a small group to rout the attackers.

Sources: University of Tampa, U.S. Army