Louis Richard Rocco

CW2 Louis Richard Rocco

Birth: November 19, 1938 ALBUQUERQUE, BERNALILLO COUNTY, New Mexico
Death: October 31, 2002 OCTOBER 31, 2002, SAN ANTONIO, Texas

US Army | Vietnam War
Louis Richard Rocco

Burial Site:  Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas Section AI, Site 549

Awards

Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster | Combat medic badge | Good Conduct medal with bronze clasp and four loops | Medal of Honor | National Defense Service Medal with one service star | Purple Heart | South Vietnamese parachutist badge | US Army Parachutist badge | Viet Nam Service Medal with three stars | Vietnam Armed forces honor Medal | Vietnam campaign medal with 60 clasp | Vietnam Gallantry cross with palm

CW2 Louis Richard Rocco was of Italian and Nuevo Mexican ancestry. His father was Louis Valencia Rocco who worked at the Schwartzman meat packing plant in Albuquerque 2nd street,  and mother Manuelita “Lita” Saiz of the Barelas neighborhood in Albuquerque. The family later moved to California and CW2 Louis Rocco dropped out of high school at 16 years old, and was arrested for armed robbery. At the sentencing hearing the judge gave him a suspended sentence and told him that he could join the Army when he was 17 if he stayed in school, obeyed a curfew and shunned his gang. CW2 Rocco joined the Army soon after in 1955. Rocco served two tours of duty in Viet Nam. His first tour was from 1965 to 1966. In 1969, Rocco returned for another tour of duty in Vietnam and was assigned to Advisory Team 162  MACV. CW2 Rocco distinguished himself when he volunteered to accompany a medical evacuation team on an urgent mission to evacuate eight critically wounded Army of the Republic of Vietnam personnel. He would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.1 2

Rocco would return to New Mexico after the war and continue a life of service. Rocco was named director of New Mexico’s Veterans Service Commission. He helped establish the Vietnam Veterans of New Mexico organization, opened a Veterans’ Center which provided peer counseling to Vietnam veterans, started a shelter for the homeless and a nursing home for veterans. CW2 Louis Richard Rocco died from lung cancer attributed to Agent Orange exposure, at age 63.2

Images & Documents

photo of Louis Richard Rocco

Louis Richard Rocco

headstone of Louis Richard Rocco

Headstone of Louis Richard Rocco

Notes:

    1. Ancestry.com, All Records for Louis Rocco
    2. Kozaryn Linda D. “Sports Fans Salute Military Heroes” American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense (March 3, 2000)
    3. Photos by, Rocco Family, June 2023, CW2 Louis Richard Rocco

    See: Tribe Henry F. “Rocco, Louis Richard” American National Biography (April 20015)

    Photos by Find A Grave.com, and Ancestry.com, 2ND Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Pascal Cleatus Poolaw

    Bio organized by Eloy Garcia, Ph.D. CNMC

    DVA, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Find Your Veteran