Celebration of Life for Col. Roger Donlon (Ret.)

The Celebration of Life is open to anyone with access to Fort Leavenworth, but space is limited at the FCC and National Cemetery. Priority will be placed to family and invited guests. Members of the Donlon party and invited guests will have access to Fort Leavenworth through the Main Gate.

The schedule for the event will be:

10:30 a.m. – Procession from Funeral Home to Frontier Conference Center (FCC) on Fort Leavenworth through Main Gate

11 a.m. – Private luncheon (invite only)

1 p.m. – Celebration of Life at FCC

2 p.m. or at conclusion of event – Memorial service at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

3 p.m. – Conclusion

*** times are approximate

Donlon (1934 – 2024) passed away on Jan. 25. The Celebration of Life will honor Donlon for his service to his country and for the legacy he left behind as a Veteran of the Vietnam War.

In 1964, Donlon was a Green Beret captain stationed at Camp Nam Dong, Vietnam, a small post deep in the jungles near the border of Laos. He and his team served as advisors to over 300 South Vietnamese soldiers. In the early morning of July 6, 1964, nearly 1,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers attacked the camp with mortars, grenades, rifles, and other small arms. Two members of his team died, and Donlon himself was wounded four times as he continued to lead his men.

Still recovering from his wounds, he was invited to the White House approximately six months after the attack and was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson. He became the first Green Beret in history, and the first American soldier of the Vietnam War, to receive the nation’s highest honor.