Recovery and Miraculous Survival at Battle of Camp Bunard

Clinging to life, the 20-year-old was met by several scrubbed doctors and nurses who leapt into action with oxygen, IVs, blood transfusions, and anything else to keep Pryor breathing. It was a very tall task considering the 30 serious wounds and nearly 200 other wounds they counted on his body.

Pryor’s bladder was ruptured; his clavicle and upper rib cage were fractured by the bullet that ripped into his neck; the bullet that tore into his chest barely missed his heart; bullets and fragments of shrapnel were found everywhere, in his torso, legs, arms, and head. Most serious were two head wounds that had blown away 20 percent of the right side of his brain.

The valiant struggle to save the young soldier’s life went on for 23 hours. Like his comrades at Camp Bunard and the fearless medevac crew, no one at the 24th Evacuation Hospital was willing to give up on him.

Miraculously, Pryor did not die on the operating table. However, it took several more operations and procedures in the week ahead to keep him alive. The last procedure, a secondary closure of his head wounds, was done on June 26. A total of seven gallons of blood had been pumped into his veins, and through it all, he never emerged from his deep coma.

On Pryor’s 30th day in the hospital, July 20, 1969, he gradually regained consciousness. He could not see because of his brain injuries, but he could hear. As he came to, he could hear excited voices all around him while a newsman was announcing on television that the Apollo 11 spacecraft had just landed on the moon. With Pryor struggling to listen, Neil Armstrong proclaimed to the world watching in awe: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

The first words Pryor heard after 30 days in a coma were among the most historic in all of human history.

Awards and Recognition for Battle of Camp Bunard

For his extraordinary courage that night in battle, Robert Pryor was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor. Charles Hinson and Carl Cramer received Silver Stars. John Parda was presented a Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for valor.

Life After the Battle of Camp Bunard

Pryor spent nearly four months recuperating at the 24th Evacuation Hospital at Long Binh, the 249th General Hospital at Camp Drake in Japan, and Travis Air Force Base in California. He then went to the Presidio of San Francisco’s Letterman Army Hospital for rehabilitation and some further procedures. On October 13, 1969, he was sent home on terminal leave with 100 percent disability.

And, Robert Pryor also quit smoking. His last cigarette was the one he lit up just moments before the perfect storm swept across Camp Bunard.

Lt. Col. Michael Christy served two tours in Vietnam, first on a Special Forces A-Team and later with Project Delta’s 81st Airborne/Ranger Battalion. On his second tour, he was the company commander of C Company, 12th Battalion 1st Cavalry Division. A film and television documentary writer, director, and producer, his work appears on the History Channel, A&E, and other networks.

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