‘Thank You’: Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt, left, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, presents the Purple Heart to Navy Hospital Corpsman 3d Class Bobby F. Cortez, 22 (Ballinger, Texas) at the Naval Support Activity Hospital in Da Nang. Cortez, a Navy corpsman, was attached to the 2d Battalion, 26th Marines [2/26] when wounded during an operation south of Da Nang. General Walt awarded numerous decorations during his visit to the hospital, and paused to shake hands and personally thank the men for the ‘fine job’ they are doing in Vietnam. General Walt is visiting Marine and other Free World units in Vietnam, keeping abreast of the current situation (official USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Lee Hoeynck).

From the Jonathan F. Abel Collection (COLL/3611) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division