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L Brother Fights to Solidify
Vietnam Vet’s Legacy
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
arry Liss, a pathfi nder-turned-
pilot in Vietnam, was given a
simple mission on May 14, 1967.

Liss was to assist pilot Tom Baca, who
was to retire in the coming days, in tak-
ing the military chaplain to the outlining
special forces unit for Sunday services.

When they landed and dropped off the
chaplain, Liss and Baca heard commo-
tion over a radio communication — 100
of their own men were surrounded by
Vietnamese soldiers deep in the thicket
of a bamboo forest in Cau Song Bae.

Liss and Baca jumped back into their
helicopter, which was unarmed and not
meant for combat, and fl ew through the
thicket — back and forth — more than
six times, each time pulling wounded
men into the helicopter and dropping
them back off at the base.

At day’s end, what should have been an
easy task turned into a medical evacua-
tion of 87 U.S. soldiers, Liss remembered.

Larry Liss’ brother Art Liss believes his
brother is deserving of far more recog-
nition than he received for the mission.

He’s been working for the past 14 years
to procure his brother a Silver Star or a
Congressional Medal of Honor to no avail.

Larry Liss, 80 and a Penn Valley native
now living in Birchrunville near West
Chester, is a “forgotten hero,” Art Liss said.

Larry Liss, however, “couldn’t care
less” about a Silver Star.

During his three years in the military,
he received 25 Air Medals, one for Valor,
the Bronze Star, three Purple Hearts, the
Valorous Unit Award for extraordinary
heroism, National Defense Service Medal,
the Meritorious Unit Commendation,
Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnamese
Campaign Medal and the Distinguished
Flying Cross for Valor for his rescue mis-
sion in Cau Song Bae.

His story was documented in a 2009
Windfall Films documentary series
“Helicopter Wars: Vietnam Firefi ght,”
where he was featured alongside Baca.

Larry Liss’ only reasons to have inter-
est in the Silver Star are two-fold: He
Larry and Art Liss
Courtesy of Art Liss
Larry Liss receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross in July 1967
would be able to then nominate fellow sol-
diers for similar accolades, and he would
bring awareness to the few Jews who have
received honors for their time in World
War II and Vietnam in particular.

According to Larry Liss, of the 1,500
cadets in his year at the Pennsylvania
Military College, now Widener University,
there were 11 Jews and one Black cadet.

According to the National Museum of
American Jewish Military History, only 18
American Jews have received the Medal of
Honor since the Civil War.

As Vietnam vets reach their 70s and
80s, the urgency to recognize them
Courtesy of Larry Liss
has grown.

Art Liss survived lung cancer fi ve years
ago, a feat that reminded him of the
urgency of this project.

“I’m in good shape, but I would not
want to see this come through posthu-
mously,” he said. “Because that would be
a very lazy way of putting off , putting off ,
putting off for years.”
But Art Liss hasn’t been lazy. He
fi rst pursued getting his brother rec-
ommended for a Medal of Honor in
2007. In 2008, Larry Liss’ retired com-
manding offi cer, then a congressman,
recommended him for a Silver Star, but
his election loss stalled the process. Liss’
application for a Medal of Honor was
turned down an additional three times.

Th e lack of documentation of the event
has not been Art Liss’s friend.

Philadelphia-based military lawyer
Earl Kauff man said that is the main rea-
son for veterans having to go through an
“arduous process” to receive honors.

Th ere are only two offi cial records of the
Cao Song Bae mission: citations from Liss
and Baca, but not a commanding offi cer.

Art Liss has tried to reconstruct eyewitness
accounts, but it’s challenging as more time
passes. Th e mission was 55 years ago.

“Th ere’s nobody in the unit anymore
where this happened, or whatever divi-
sion or unit he was with; all these peo-
ple fi nished their military service and
retired,” Kauff man said.

Th e Liss brothers suspect that antisem-
itism has played a role in Larry Liss’ lack
of Silver Star. Kauff man said that race has
played a role in Black soldiers not receiv-
ing honors, and antisemitism could have
played a role in Liss’ case as well.

“I got picked on so much; I got abused
so much,” Larry Liss said of his time in
military school.

He encountered further antisemi-
tism in Vietnam and butted heads with
his fl ight operations offi cer, at one time
punching him.

Aft er the Cau Song Bae mission, Liss
was berated by his commanding offi cer
for conducting a mission other than the
one he was assigned and for using an air-
craft in a combat situation that was not
meant for combat.

Th erefore, he did not confer with Liss
and Baca and document the event — and
vital evidence of the mission is missing.

Art Liss has enlisted the help of
Pennsylvania legislators for his proj-
ect but is growing frustrated with the
lack of transparency he’s gotten from
the Military Awards Branch who have
turned down his requests with little
explanation. “We will have violated the ethics of the
military, of their major ethos, which is,
‘Leave no soldier behind,’” he said. JE
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