News Service

11-06-09

ISU Gold Star Hall ceremony honors fallen Vietnam War soldier from Lake City

AMES, Iowa -- A Veterans Day observance at Iowa State University will honor seven former students whose names have been added to the Gold Star Hall, the war memorial in the university's Memorial Union. One was a soldier from Lake City, Michael Keith Lewis, who died in the Vietnam War.

Former students are eligible for name-placement in Gold Star Hall if they graduated or attended Iowa State full time for one or more semesters, and died while in military service in a war zone. The university has recently identified several who had not been identified in previous searches. As names become known, they are added to the wall and the soldiers are remembered in the Gold Star Hall Ceremony on Veterans Day.

Iowa State is able to memorialize Lewis on Veterans Day thanks to the help of his sister, Marilyn Scott, Des Moines, who shared her memories.

After graduating from high school in Lake City, Lewis followed his passion for golf to Iowa State, where he wanted to learn how to design golf courses or manage a country club. When his father retired, Lewis chose to pay his own way through school. He left school to join the Army, and was inducted in February 1968.

Lewis became a noncommissioned officer and reported for duty in South Vietnam just before Christmas 1968. In the six months that remained of his life, Lewis proved to be a true hero: He received two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts before losing his life in June 1969.

Lewis was affiliated with the Mobile Riverine Force of the 9th Infantry Division, serving in Vietnam's Mekong Delta during the Tet Offensive. The Mekong Delta had no bridges and roads to accommodate the 9th Infantry, much less their heavy artillery. Lewis and his men worked closely with the Navy. (Some even called them "The Brown Water Navy.") Based on floating barracks ships, they were regularly transported by riverboats or choppers to where they fought the enemy in the jungle, swamp or rice paddy.

Lewis' first Silver Star was for action on May 23, l969. His company was ambushed by heavy automatic weapons and sustained four immediate casualties. Lewis crossed 100 meters of open fire-swept terrain to aid the wounded men. He applied first aid and evacuated the casualties to safety, one at a time, ultimately saving the lives of all four men.

On June 13, Lewis was awarded his second Silver Star for exceptional gallantry. In the midst of a brutal battle, Lewis was clearing an area for a medical evacuation of casualties injured by the detonation of an explosive trap. Fully realizing the danger of additional mines, he continued to clear the area. Lewis was mortally wounded when a second explosive detonated.

Dewayne Beltran, Montrose, Colo., will be among those attending the ISU ceremony on Nov. 11. He is one of the men Lewis saved on May 23, 1969.

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