ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) – January 4th, 1968 is a day Melvin Page will never forget.

On Veterans Day, Page sat down to Volunteer TV News to share his amazing story of what was nearly his last day on earth.

These days, Page is working hard to keep the community safe by manning the metal detector at the Roane County Courthouse. Kingston is a long way away from south Asia.

41 years ago, he was a platoon sergeant working to keep his troops safe in the dangerous jungles of Vietnam. He was 21 years old at the time and nicknamed Sgt. Rock.

"Your friend during the day was your enemy at night,” Page said. “Some of the people turned against you."

On January 4th, 1968, Sgt. Page led his platoon of 42 on patrol. It was just before the Tet Offensive, and his company of soldiers was supposed to sweep the territory for members of the Viet Cong.

"What we didn't know at that time the area had been bombed that night,” he said. “What we didn't know was the MVA's had already come down from the north and they set up that night."

According to Page, trouble quickly developed.

“We were holding down the right flank,” he said, “and we walked into an ambush of over 1,000 MVA soldiers."

With bullets flying, American GI's began dropping like flies. Page was hit multiple times and his entire company was nearly wiped out.

"My thought in my head at that time,” he said, “I was going to take as many as I could because I knew I was dying."

Doing so would mean his own death, but he decided to do it anyways.

"I called napalm in,” Page said, “air strikes and artillery on my own position. That was to try to save us and a few more because I figured I would die."

His decision probably saved hundreds of lives.

When the strike ended, soldiers from another unit came through to pick up the dead. Page was burned so badly he was overlooked and believed to be a Vietnamese fighter.

"They finally recognized me as an American soldier,” he said, “and as they were putting me in a body bag, saw I was still alive because I was able to move my hand."

The fact that he’d survived shocked the soldiers.

"I'm not going to say on TV what those two GI's that put me in there said," Page said.

Medics were called in to remove him from the battlefield. He was then taken to an army hospital in Japan, but his survival still looked like a long shot.

"I was hit by a grenade, shot four times and burned on 90 percent of my body," he said.

His recovery did take several years and multiple surgeries. To this day he still has health problems from the Agent Orange used during the airstrike.
Page told Volunteer TV News that every Veterans Day is special to him because 40 members of his platoon didn’t survive the attack on January 4th.

"Veteran's Day, Memorial Day or any other day to honor the men that fell,” he said, “or that's not here today."

Page left the military in 1969 after receiving numerous medals including the Bronze Star, three Purple Hearts and two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters. He returned to Harriman and spent the next 30 years as a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service.

In September 2000, Tennessee Rep. Zach Wamp took to the floor of the U.S. Capitol to tell Page’s story.

After the Leon Houston trial, he plans to move from courthouse security to court bailiff because it will allow him to work less hours and enjoy his retirement a little more.