Albert Watts had already served in the United States Army for 18 years and was looking forward to retiring from the service when he found himself in a life-or-death battle in Vietnam.

Now 92, he still recalls vividly the details and that day.

He also recalls the day he found out he had unexpectedly been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

The Distinguished Service Cross is awarded to U.S. military service members who display extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force and is ranked just below the Medal of Honor.

Some 2.7 million service members served in Vietnam. There were 239 Medals of Honor awarded and 1,068 Distinguished Service Crosses.

Watts joined the service in the years following World War Two beginning in 1948 and participated in the occupation of Japan.

He saw active combat duty during the Korean War as a forward observer and remained in the Army where he was assigned to infantry, airborne and armored units before serving in Vietnam.

He was a platoon sergeant in Company D of the Second Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

He described his efforts to command a reconnaissance patrol and was finally rewarded.

Recon patrols were the forward eyes and ears of an infantry battalion, Watts said. The missions were often dangerous.

Their motto, “Travel light, freeze at night, stay all right.”

Watts said they were often isolated from friendly troops and had to have considerable speed and flexibility to survive. Non-essentials were left behind, and they often ate less and slept cold and wet.

On Sept. 23, 1966 near Bon Song, another company (A) had become pinned down by heavy machine gun fire from Viet Cong bunkers, and several were wounded and could not be reached.

The descriptions of his action from the award states: “Undaunted, Sergeant Watts maneuvered his platoon through devastating automatic weapons and machine gun fire, moving among his men, shouting encouragement and directing the attack. Realizing that his wounded comrades would soon die without medical aid, he ordered one squad to assault from the side while he charged the center bunker alone. Unmindful of the dangers and armed only with two hand grenades, Sergeant Watts ran across forty meters of bullet-swept terrain directly into the insurgent fire. Throwing both grenades through the firing ports, he silenced the position, killing all four Viet Cong inside. With the main hostile threat eliminated, the flanking team quickly overcame the second emplacement, but the platoon leader was wounded as the unit advanced on the last insurgent bunker. Assuming command, Sergeant Watts courageously led the final assault and safely reached the wounded men.”

Watts recounted that he had the pins pulled from the grenades, expecting to be hit before he reached the bunkers.

His men told him that all they could see as he advanced was the dust arising from the machine gun fire hitting the ground.

The bunkers were out of range of artillery and had withstood helicopter-borne fire, leading Watts to decide on the direct assault.

Among the men there that day was a lieutenant named Bobby Welch, who was the platoon leader wounded while attacking the right flank.

Watts said Welch would have become a 4-star general had he stayed in the Army, such were his qualifications.

But he told Watts that if he made it out alive, he would serve the Lord.

Watts said he’d heard that plenty of times, but Welch stayed true to his word.

He pastored the First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla. for 32 years, retiring in 2006. He also served a term as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, elected in 2004, and he authored several books.

They remain friends to this day.

Watts escaped unharmed, which explains why he is among a minority of Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor recipients to not also receive the Purple Heart.

The nomination for the DSC came from A Company, which had been pinned down in the attack.

Watts is still demonstrative about the lack of credit his platoon received for their actions that day.

He was already back in the U.S. at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos) when the award came through, in March 1967.

Watts remembers the day he was told to report, wondering what he might have done to be called before the brass.

None of his superiors at Fort Hood were aware either, until they reached the office of the base commander and learned the news.

Watts did get to meet the President of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, while he was finishing out his tour in San Antonio, recuperating.

Watts had been injured when he was jumping out of a helicopter and broke his ankle.

He refused efforts to award him the Purple Heart, since the injury was not combat-related.

He even went so far as to proclaim that he wold not accept the award even if it was coming from the president himself.

Originally from California, Watts completed his 20 years of service in 1968 and spent the next 21 years in the rental business in Killeen, near the fort.

He and his second wife retired to Arkansas for 15 years before she passed away, and he came to Mineola to be near his step-daughter and her husband, Pam and Bruce Harris.