Roy Benavidez, age seven, First Communion in Cuero (front row, fourth from left). Benavidez Family Archives

Roy’s grandfather, Salvador Benavidez.

OSS Deer Team members pose with Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap near Hanoi, Vietnam, August 1945. (Left to right, standing) Lieutenant René Défourneaux, Ho Chi Minh, Major Allison Thomas, Giap, Private First Class Henry Prunier and Private First Class Paul Hoagland. (Front row kneeling) Staff Sergeant Lawrence Vogt and Sergeant Aaron Squires. U.S. Army Photo

Roy, age eleven, El Campo Elementary School. Benavidez Family Archives

Roy, age fifteen as a migrant worker. Benavidez Family Archives

Art Haddock (Mr. Haddock), Roy’s boss at the Firestone tire store, El Campo, Texas. Haddock Family Archives

Private Benavidez, age nineteen, Fort Ord, California. Benavidez Family Archives

Roy, military police school, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 1958. Benavidez Family Archives

Uncle Nicholas and Aunt Alexandria, Roy’s adoptive parents, at Roy and Lala’s wedding. Benavidez Family Archives

Roy and Lala were married on June 7, 1959. Benavidez Family Archives

Roy, with his trousers “bloused” into his boots, a tradition allowed only to Airborne-qualified soldiers. Benavidez Family Archives

Airborne qualified, Roy at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 1959. Benavidez Family Archives

Roy descending into the Sicily Drop Zone at Fort Bragg during training (center). U.S. Army Photo

The helicopter was to Vietnam what the jeep was to World War II. U.S. Army Photo

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Prince Sihanouk on her November 1967 visit to Cambodia. Don Kirk Photo

Welcome to Project Sigma, Detachment B-56, at Ho Ngoc Tao. Nick Godano Photo

Warrant Officer Larry McKibben next to his 162nd Assault Helicopter Company (Vultures) slick. McKibben Family Archives

One of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company “Greyhound” slicks, whose motto was “Go Greyhound and leave the flying to us.” Yurman Family Archives

Major James Reid, the man who organized Operation Vesuvius. Reid Family Archives

Larry McKibben carrying the rotor blade that had been shot through. McKibben Family Archives

Specialist 4 Brian O’Connor atop Nui Ba Ra (“White Virgin Mountain”). O’Connor Family Archives

First Lieutenant Al Yurman flying the C&C Greyhound slick. Yurman Family Archives

Specialist 4 Michael Craig, Greyhound Three crew chief. Craig Family Archives

First Lieutenant Fred Jones, the launch officer for the May 2, 1968, mission. Jones Family Archives

A Greyhound slick on a mission. Yurman Family Archives