Bob Cutts ©Stars and StripesSouth Vietnam, April, 1968: Thirteen-year-old Ta Thai Manh holds the AK-47 rifle he took from a Viet Cong soldier who had taken him prisoner and tried to recruit him. After convincing the VC that he had joined the cause, Ta escaped by seizing the rifle, shooting the soldier and hurling a grenade at two other pursuers. He was awarded the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star.

RELATED MATERIAL:Stars and Stripes' 1968 story about 13-year-old soldier Ta Thai Manh.