Bronze Star, Purple Heart Recipient Dick Hermann, Sole Survivor of Vietnam River Attack, Dies at 78

Published Jul 18, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT

Dick Hermann enlisted in the Navy at 16-years-old and became a decorated Vietnam War hero.

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Published Jul 18, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT

From the battlefields of the Vietnam War to wrangling horses at a rodeo, Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient Dick Hermann was a man who lived outside the box. His death last week at the age of 78 is a loss among Vietnam veterans who are dwindling in numbers, and leaves a void among his friends and comrades on the South Dakota rodeo circuit. "I wasn't quite ready to lose him. He was a little younger than I am, and I'm not ready to go yet. I didn't figure he would be either," 84-year-old Jim Korkow, owner of Korkow Rodeos of South Dakota, said in an interview with Military.com. “Dick and I were pretty damn close. He worked with me for years. He was always happy. Everything was fun. We had a lot of laughs."