November 1, 1999 Amb. Kenneth Quinn
Ambassador Quinn received this award for the four life-saving rescues he performed in Vietnam during the war and his later actions as U.S. Ambassador to protect American citizens in Cambodia who were caught in the middle of a civil war battle. In Cambodia, as the capital city erupted in all-out warfare, with no Marine security guards and with only the American flag on his car to protect him, Ambassador Quinn drove into the fighting to protect U.S. Citizens. In Vietnam, he rescued a severely wounded 10-year old boy and brought him to a hospital in Sades City; dove into a swollen canal to save a drowning U.S. Airforce Sergeant; drove down an insecure road at night to rescue endangered U.S. army personnel; and boarded a U.S. medical evacuation helicopter and twice guided it at night into an insecure outpost that had been overthrown by the VietCong. Only with Ambassador Quinn’s willingness to personally guide the helicopter twice into this still active battleground, were close to 30 wounded soldiers rescued and saved.