Photo By Michael Strasser | Fort Drum’s Gherardini Military Police Station is named after a military police...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Dec. 13, 2024) -- Fort Drum’s Gherardini Military Police Station is named after a military police Soldier who died during combat in Vietnam and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
Spc. Sergio John Gherardini, from Kings County, New York, served with the 66th Military Police Company, 93rd MP Battalion, 16th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade.
The Vietnam War saw an expansion of MP duties into combat support missions where Soldiers provided direct tactical and logistical assistance to commanders throughout the theater of operations.
On Jan. 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces began a series of coordinated attacks against several targets in South Vietnam, and Gherardini died during an enemy ambush.
According to his Silver Star citation, Gherardini and other members of his unit were moving through the city of Qui Nhon aboard a truck when they were attacked by insurgents from both sides of the street. Gherardini leaped from the vehicle to find cover, and he saw several Vietnamese soldiers roughly 100 meters away in the line of direct fire.
Gherardini rushed to aid the fallen soldiers, and he was struck by enemy fire. Wounded, he continued his advance while placing fierce counterfire on the Viet Cong. Upon reaching the casualties, Gherardini pointed out enemy positions to his teammates and then administered aid to the wounded.
As the fighting intensified, Gherardini eliminated an enemy automatic weapons position, killing three insurgents in the process. In his attempt to rescue his fallen comrades, Gherardini was mortally wounded.
In January 1991, the Fort Drum Memorialization Board convened and received command approval for the naming of a new two-story, state-of-the-art military police station and public safety building after Gherardini. His name was among the nominees submitted by the military police historian at Fort McClellan, Alabama.
Fort Drum and state officials, community members and several of Gherardini’s family members attended a dedication ceremony for the building on April 18, 1991. His mother cut the ribbon on the new facility.
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2024 07:38 |
| Story ID: | 487387 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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