Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients Paul Bucha and James McCloughan spoke during the “Night of Courage” banquet at the MCM Hotel and Fun Dome on Friday.
The event honored Odessa natives and Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients Alfred “Mac” Wilson and Marvin “Rex” Young, who died in the Vietnam War.
The event was organized by Friends of Wilson and Young Medal of Honor 1970 and Friends of the Monument of Courage, with portions of the event’s proceeds going to the local VFW supporting veterans’ welfare, the local American Legion Post, Wilson & Young Middle School and toward funding a Medal of Honor Monument in West Texas.
Earlier Friday, Bucha and McCloughan visited students at Wilson & Young Middle School, which was named after Odessa’s Medal of Honor recipients in 2015.
“This is marvelous, what they’re doing for their hometown heroes,” McCloughan said just before Friday night’s banquet.
“It is refreshing to find a community that cares about its roots of military service,” Bucha said. “Here, they’re not only memorialized, they’re celebrated — and that’s a model for the nation,” he added.
