BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- In his new book, At All Costs, Chief Master Sgt. Matthew Proietti captures the life and death of a Vietnam War, Medal of Honor recipient with a narrative fit for Hollywood.
The book, Proietti’s first, tells the story of Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. “Dick” Etchberger, a radar repairman during the Vietnam War, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2010, 42 years after he was killed, March 11, 1968. Etchberger was shot while riding in a rescue helicopter following an overnight battle at Mount Phou Pha Ti, where he helped maintain a secret radar site that aided the U.S. bombing campaign in North Vietnam.
At All Costs was released during the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy graduation at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, April 21.
Proietti, who is an Individual Mobilization Augmentee, began his journey to write the book seven years ago while he was backfilling as chief of the news team at the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs office in 2008. He said there were rumblings that Etchberger would be nominated for the Medal of Honor. He asked his team if anyone was interested in researching and preparing an article on the Vietnam War hero. When it became apparent that none of his Airmen could shoulder the assignment, Proietti took it on himself.
As Proietti began learning more about Etchberger, he became intrigued with the life and career of the man who was credited with saving the lives of two fellow Airmen during the battle for Lima Site 85 in Laos. He started his research in August 2008 by traveling to Hamburg, Pennsylvania, Etchberger’s hometown. It was there that he met high school friends and family members of the Airman. What he learned was that the Air Force Cross and future Medal of Honor recipient led a life focused on helping others long before his actions that earned him the nation’s highest honor.
“I got really excited about the story, and I knew one [article] just wouldn’t be enough,” he said.
From his initial research, Proietti crafted a three-part series. His orders to the Pentagon ended in September and he would have been done with the story except Cory, one of Etchberger’s three sons, reached out to him in December, asking if he was interested in working on a book with him.
Cory said he contacted Proietti after reading his articles.
“Lots of people have written articles about dad, but Matt is the only one who got every detail right,” said Cory.
Etchberger’s son, a 25-year veteran of the college lectern, started work on the book in 2006 and had done research, gathered a contact list and developed an outline. However, because he lacked a strong writing background, he knew he would need some help. He talked to his brother, Richard, and they agreed that Proietti was the man for the job.
Despite his rookie status as an author, Proietti had plenty of writing chops to qualify him for the job. He is a thirty-year veteran of the Public Affairs career field who has won the Department of Defense’s coveted Thomas Jefferson award for communications four times. He began writing in grade school, and when the Air Force gave him the opportunity to write professionally, he couldn’t believe it.
“Not a week goes by that I’m not thankful to the Air Force for giving me the opportunity to write,” he said.
After transition to the Air Force Reserve in 1988, he spent a decade working as a journalist and editor in Southern California. Since becoming a traditional reservist, and later an IMA, Proietti has served in a variety of roles, writing, editing and mentoring young writers. Additionally, his role as a chief master sergeant gave Proietti a unique understanding of the responsibilities Etchberger would have had as an enlisted leader.
Proietti’s first meeting with Cory was in 2009 at Cory’s then-home in Switzerland. They went through his dad’s old service records, and Proietti explained what the different documents and forms meant. What unfolded was a clearer picture of the career of an outstanding Airman. The biographer said he became fascinated by the narrative because so many Medal of Honor stories are about young Airmen who made a split decision to do something heroic, while the story of Dick Etchberger revealed the full career of a man who lived the Air Force core values, was a good wingman, and was loved and respected by superiors and subordinates alike.
Etchberger was finally nominated for the Medal of Honor in 2010 and President Barack Obama presented the award to sons Cory, Richard and Steven, Sept. 21. (Ceremony: https://youtu.be/HrQCVCWT_HQ)
The initial plan was for Proietti and Cory to co-write the story, but as the project progressed, they decided it would be best for the Air Force writer to take over the pen. He spent the next several years researching the book, spending hours at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library in Texas and interviewing and writing letters with Etchberger’s former supervisors and the men whose lives he saved, including Tech. Sgt. John G. Daniel of La Junta, Colorado.
“He should have a 55-gallon drum full of medals. I wouldn’t be alive without him,” said Daniel.
In the hours preceding his death, Etchberger defended Lima Site 85, where he manned a top-secret radar site which helped guide bombers on missions to North Vietnam, against an attack from North Vietnamese special forces. Etchberger used a handheld radio to call for a rescue and air strikes. According to Daniel, they basically had to call air strikes in on themselves, figuring they were dead men anyway.
Etchberger, Daniel and Capt. Stan Sliz survived the night by returning small arms fire and exchanging grenades with the enemy. When the light of day finally brought a CIA rescue chopper, Etchberger repeatedly exposed himself to heavy fire while helping Daniel and Sliz, who both suffered serious injuries, onto the helicopter. Daniel lost consciousness as soon as he was aboard.
After ensuring his men were safely loaded, Etchburger joined them. As the helicopter peeled away, an enemy round pierced the floor and hit Etchberger, resulting in serious internal injuries and bleeding. He died later that morning.
Daniel, who was unconscious until the next day, was confused by the news of Etchberger’s death.
“It didn’t make sense to me. He was the only one who wasn’t injured (that night). I thought, ‘what the hell?’” said Daniel. “He told me, ‘I’ll be right up. I’ll see you in a minute.’”
Proietti, who traveled on business a good deal over the last five years, said he would work on the story everywhere he went. The biography was written on airplanes, in hotel rooms and on weekends at his home in the hills outside Sacramento, California.
Finally, on December 1, 2014, Proietti said he officially finished writing and began proof reading. Fellow public affairs IMA Senior Master Sgt. Ray Sarracino created the cover illustration, which features a full-length photograph of Etchberger in his uniform, the Medal of Honor and a map of Laos and North Vietnam. The book went to press in early 2015; 5,000 copies paid for by the Etchberger Foundation, which will receive half the profits. The foundation will use the proceeds to educate others about the life and sacrifice of its namesake, provide leadership and service awards to ROTC students, and to assist Air Force families in financial need.
Cory said he’s pleased with the book and credits Proietti’s ability to ask the right questions and build historical context with creating an accurate portrayal of his father. He hopes that those who read At All Costs will come away inspired to continue his dad’s legacy of helping others.
With the first edition of the book in print, Proietti is now working on a screen adaptation and hopes to have a script completed in the next few years. He also plans to write more books in the future, including works of fiction.
IMAs are Air Force Reservists assigned to active-duty units and government agencies. They are managed by Headquarters Individual Reservist Readiness and Integration Organization, located at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, and serve over 50 separate major commands, combatant commands and government agencies.
Unlike traditional Reservists, who are assigned to Reserve units that regularly perform duty together, IMAs work with their active-duty supervisors to create a custom duty schedule to meet mission requirements.