Honor. Duty. Respect. Those are the words that students at The Citadel pledge to live by. And upon graduation, many of them swear an additional oath — to support and defend the Constitution of the United States — by choosing to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and willingly putting their lives on the line to defend our country’s freedoms. Some of them have made the ultimate sacrifice while doing so and their names are displayed on campus at The Citadel War Memorial.
The beautiful black granite monument pays tribute to over 750 former students who have died in our country’s military conflicts since the founding of the school in 1842. We have all reaped the benefit of their sacrifice, but most are unsung heroes whose names are lost to history. However, the actions of three of those former Citadel cadets have warranted special recognition by the U.S. Congress for exceptional bravery and they have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration for valor in combat. Capt. Hugh Reavis Nelson Jr., a graduate of The Citadel’s class of 1959, was one of them.
Nelson is the newest Medal of Honor recipient, and his name will now be enshrined with over 3,500 others at the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point. He is the first Citadel graduate to receive it; the other two former cadets attended the school but were not alumni. Nelson’s medal came nearly 60 years after he gave his life to protect the lives of three of his fellow soldiers in Vietnam and his recognition was prompted by the efforts of one Hilton Head man who never even knew him.
Nelson was stationed at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), North Carolina, and serving in the Vietnam War in 1966 as aircraft commander of an armed UH-1B helicopter on a search-and-destroy reconnaissance mission when his chopper was shot down. He was initially knocked unconscious, but when he came to, he dragged two of his comrades from the wreckage after pulling off the damaged helicopter door with his bare hands. Coming under heavy enemy fire, Capt. Nelson used his own body as a human shield for one of the men, an enlisted man, Army Specialist Chuck Counts. His selfless action saved the life of Counts but resulted in Nelson taking more than 24 bullets from just 30 feet away. His heroic efforts also enabled his co-pilot, a Citadel alumnus from the class of 1964, Capt. Warren Bailey Jones, to escape from the wreckage.
The belated recognition of the 28-year-old’s self-sacrifice nearly 60 years ago was due in large part to the dogged efforts of another Citadel graduate, Ted Curtis, a retired Air Force flyer and graduate of the class of 1964 who serves on the school’s Distinguished Alumni Committee. After learning of Nelson’s heroism six years ago, Curtis began to tackle the mounds of federal red tape involved in submitting for review the files of candidates being considered for the MOH. Once finalized, former President Joe Biden presented the medal to Nelson’s daughter, Debbie McKnight, in a special ceremony at the White House in January 2025.
Nelson is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His grave is indistinguishable from the hundreds of thousands of fallen heroes resting there. But at Patriots Point, his name is now displayed on the screen at the entryway to the Medal of Honor Museum and is one of the first that visitors see. It will also be engraved on the memorial wall that wraps around the exterior of the museum on the hangar deck of the USS Yorktown.
The Citadel’s mission is to mold its students into becoming leaders with strong character. To give one’s life for others is the epitome of that character. Capt. Hugh Reavis Nelson Jr. exemplified that virtue.
By Mary Coy
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