- [Radio Announcer] Now the end has come.

- People often ask me,were you ever afraid

that you're gonna die?

And I tell them that I wasn't,

because in the midst of that battle,

I experienced somethingthat was greater than fear.

- [Narrator] Long before hereceived the Medal of Honor

for his actions on the frontlines of the Vietnam War,

Gary Beikirch was justan aimless college kid

in search of purpose.

- I decided I was gonna quit school

and I was gonna go into the Green Berets,

because of the training,their purpose, their mission.

That's what I wanted.

- [Narrator] He got his wishin 1967, at 20 years old,

when he became a SpecialForces Combat Medic

for the Green Berets.

- Attaining the Green Beretwas a tremendous, tremendous

sense of accomplishment for me.

So I looked forward to going to Vietnam,

as a chance to fulfill a dream.

- [Narrator] That was until he discovered

where he was headed.

Camp Dak Seang in the heartof the Vietnam jungle.

Luckily nearby was aremote Montagnard village,

where he befriended a15-year-old soldier, named Deo.

- I said to this youngMontagnard boy, I said,

"I want you to teach me how to survive

"in the jungle, becauseI'm afraid of snakes,

"and I really don't wannarun into and tigers.

He said, "I don't wannateach you how to survive."

He said, "I wanna teach you how to live."

And he became my mentor.

He became my bodyguard.

We developed a sense of comradery

that taught me so much about life.

- Just before dawn on April 1, 1970,

10,000 North Vietnamesemounted an assault on the camp.

- We started taking artillery,rocket fire, for hours.

And then the ground assault started.

Most of the Americans were wounded.

Most of the buildingsabove ground were leveled.

- [Narrator] Whileshielding an injured soldier

from a mortar shell, Gary was hit.

Metal fragments from theexploding rocket ripped

into his spine.

- There was somebodynext to me, picked me up.

And I looked and it was Deo.

And I said to him,

"How did you find me"in the midst of this?"

And he said, "This iswhere I belong, with you."

- [Narrator] Gary could barely walk,

but through a hail of enemy gunfire,

he continued to rescue fallen comrades,

with the help of Deo.

- When he couldn't drag me, I dragged him.

It was a love thatovercame the fear of dying.

We heard a rocket coming,and he rolled me over,

the rocket exploded and Deowas killed protecting me.

He was the only reason thatI survived that battle,

but my greatest battlehappened a few days later

in the hospital.

- [Narrator] Partiallyparalyzed by shrapnel

and wounded by three bullets,Gary fought for his life.

- And it was my hand tohand combat with death.

One time I came to, there wasa chaplain that was standing

over me and he said,"Would you like to pray?"

And I said, "I don't know how to pray."

"I don't even know who to pray to."

He said, "That's okay,God knows how to listen."

I said, "God, if you're real, I need you."

Something that came all overme, brought me a sense of love.

A sense of, "You're notalone, I will be with you."

I said, "I gotta findout what's out there,

"who is that that's out there?"

- [Narrator] His curiosity stuck with him

through 10 months of physical therapy.

Once he learned to walk again,

he visited the one person hethought might be able to help.

His Christian cousin, Janand her husband, Buck.

When he asked about God, theyhanded him a New Testament

and said, "Read it."

- I read through John15, where he says that

"As the father has loved me,"Gary, "so have I loved you."

"You have not chosen me,"Gary, "but I have chosen you

"to bring forth much fruit."

At that moment, I realizedthat Jesus was the God

that I met in that hospital bed

and that He had a plan for me.

And I knelt down and Iaccepted Christ as my Savior.

- [Narrator] While he felt some joy,

a war was waging in his soul.

- There are many demonsand things that you fight

during war, and those things become voices

that you hear in your headover and over and over again.

And they haunt you.

- [Narrator] So he tookhis fight to a cave

in New Hampshire, where hefought for his very soul.

- I fought a battle in myown heart and my own mind.

I said, "God, I wouldn'tbe alive if it weren't

"for you and your grace."

"I'm giving you my life totally."

"Whatever you want for mylife, that's all I want."

- [Narrator] Two weeks after that prayer,

Gary received the Medal of Honor.

For Gary, it's a symbol of love.

- It's not about me.

It's not about anything that I've done.

It's about the millions ofother men and women who serve.

It's about dying toyourself, caring for others.

It's about God and what God has done.

Without his grace, I wouldn'thave survived Vietnam,

and without his forgiveness and His love,

I never would have come out of that cave.

- [Narrator] Gary married, earned degrees

in both psychology and sociology,

worked as a counselor, andnow serves as a chaplain.

He shares his story withanyone searching for purpose.

- Significance comes whenyou find out that God

has a plan for your life and you say,

"God, I will follow your plan."

And then you let God use you.

You let God use you to love others,

to make a difference in their lives.

To me, that significance.