HAMMOND — Tangipahoa Parish Government and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1052 will host a special ceremony on Friday, June 27, to unveil a display in memory of Tangipahoa’s Medal of Honor recipient, the late Marine Corps Pfc. Raymond Michael Clausen, Jr.
The display, which includes the Marine’s uniform and medals, will be unveiled at 1:30 p.m. at the TPG’s “Clausen Building,” located at 15485 West Club Deluxe Road in Hammond. The ceremony is open to the public.
Clausen, who went by the nickname “Mike,” graduated from Hammond High in 1965 and enrolled at Southeastern Louisiana University before feeling the tug to join the Vietnam war effort. He enlisted in 1966 and attended aviation school before being deployed to the war zone where he served as a helicopter mechanic with the Marine Aircraft Group 16 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.
He volunteered for a second tour in 1969, where he served as a helicopter crew chief. Clausen’s missions included doing reconnaissance and Medevac flights, and his job was to to make sure all systems were go for each flight and, once in the air, clearing pilots in and out of landing zones and directing Gunnars.
During his second tour, the then-22-year-old Clausen is credited with saving the lives of 18 Marines who had inadvertently stumbled into a minefield during a firefight with the enemy. While under fire himself, Clausen disobeyed direct orders and departed his aircraft six times to rescue Marines who were trapped in that minefield. He personally carried six Marines out of the minefield, and those who could walk followed him out to safety. According to published accounts, “Only when Clausen was certain that all the Marines were safely aboard the helicopter did he signal to the pilot to head back to base.”
In June 1971, Clausen received a Medal of Honor from the President of the United States during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. His accolades include 98 Air Medals from the more than 3,000 hours he flew in combat.
Clausen died in 2004 at the age of 56. He is buried in Ponchatoula Cemetery, and TPG’s Hammond complex is named in his honor.
