[1] Beikirch joined the United States Army in August 1967, just after finishing his second year of college in upstate New York.

He completed jump school, passed the Special Forces test and went on to training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

During his time in the army, Beikirch served with the 3rd, 5th and 10th Special Forces Groups as a Light Weapons and Medical Specialist.

While his Montagnard assistants treated the wounded, Beikirch fought back with a 4.2 inch mortar and, after that weapon was disabled by hostile fire, a machine gun.

Learning that a fellow American soldier was wounded and lying in an exposed position, he ran through heavy fire to rescue the man.

He planned to go back to Vietnam and work in a missionary hospital in Kon Tum Province, where he had served in the army; however, the country fell to North Vietnamese forces before he could return.

The allied defenders suffered a number of casualties as a result of an intense, devastating attack launched by the enemy from well-concealed positions surrounding the camp.

He was again wounded as he dragged a critically injured Vietnamese soldier to the medical bunker while simultaneously applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to sustain his life.

Beikirch's complete devotion to the welfare of his comrades, at the risk of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S.