210 Days: The Making of an Infantry Battalion Commander in Vietnam

This is the story of Colonel Peter “Pistol Pete” Petersen. Coming from a humble background, and drafted during the Korean War, he rose from private to a full colonel in the U.S. Army. His story is one of grit and determination. In the early Cold War, he served in the 82nd Airborne Division and graduated from the elite U.S. Army Ranger School. In 1962, as a captain in the 5th Special Forces Group, he was deployed to Vietnam. His mission was to help establish Green Beret operational bases and work with local tribes, such as the Montagnards, to stop the flow of communist soldiers and equipment from the Ho Chi Minh trail. In 1968, just months after the massive Tet Offensive, he returned to Vietnam as an infantry battalion commander leading 814 men in the heavily contested Mekong Delta. For his actions in Vietnam, Colonel Petersen was awarded the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with “V” Device, Air Medal with “V” Device with 16 Oak Leaf Clusters, and Army Commendation with “V” Device.