Alpha Troop
Achieving Recognition for a "Battle No One Cared to Name, in a War Few Care to Remember"
The anonymous valor of Alpha Troop, a small but heroic group of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, became a national headline and a public concern through extensive, high-profile local and national coverage — and in turn, brought long overdue recognition to an entire generation of forgotten veteran soldiers.
Without the dedication of Capt. John Poindexter, the veterans of both Alpha Troop and Charlie Company and the extensive campaign implemented by the Pierpont Communications team, the honor would have remained unrecognized.
A targeted media relations campaign served as an integral component of Capt. Poindexter’s seven-year effort to bring the veterans to the White House to be honored by President Obama for their decades-old rescue mission of Charlie Company, another U.S. military unit. The ceremony would set the stage for national recognition of all the men who served in an unpopular war.
BACKGROUND
Reading the book "Into Cambodia" changed Capt. John Poindexter’s life.
As a captain in Vietnam 40 years ago, Poindexter led Alpha Troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in a high-casualty rescue mission that saved the lives of nearly 100 fellow American soldiers (Charlie Company) surrounded by North Vietnamese troops. "Into Cambodia" illustrated that many survivors of the battle were nominated for awards only to be denied or overlooked, their actions forgotten amid the turmoil of war and the confusion of combat.
Concerned that the men he had led felt unrecognized, Capt. Poindexter set out on a personal mission to locate these soldiers, capture their memories (along with the memories of Charlie Company survivors) and submit Alpha Troop for the most prestigious military unit honor — the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC).
In April 2009, the PUC notification arrived in the form of an unceremonious communication to Fort Irwin, Alpha Troop’s home base. It secured the troop’s status as one of only a handful of units to receive the award since its inception after World War II. With no further action, the recognition would have stopped there.
However, Capt. Poindexter felt his men, along with Charlie Company and thousands of other Vietnam veterans, deserved acknowledgment for their sacrifices. To achieve this, the award would not only need to receive national media attention but also need to be awarded by President Obama himself.
Capt. Poindexter enlisted the help of Pierpont Communications to develop and execute an extensive national media campaign that would capture the attention of the White House and secure President Obama’s participation in an official ceremony.
STRATEGY
Recognizing the national scope of the Alpha Troop story, Pierpont deployed a two-pronged approach to successfully garner media coverage: securing local stories in Alpha Troop veterans’ hometowns across the country and then leveraging them into a compelling and substantial national story to attract top-tier media outlets — the same outlets frequently monitored by the White House.
As a first step, Pierpont designed and launched an informative and detailed website (
www.atroopheroes.com) featuring veteran recollections, excerpts from "The Anonymous Battle" (Capt. Poindexter’s published book about the troop), photos of the troop in 1970 Vietnam and more. This site served as a vital resource for media throughout the campaign, allowing them to acquire materials and resources as well as give them a first-hand glimpse into the heroism of Alpha Troop.
After this credible resource had been set into place, Pierpont launched a media relations campaign, employing a grassroots approach to capture media in virtually every region of the United States. The team contacted local newspapers, television stations and radio networks across the nation, alerting them to the undiscovered heroes in their own backyards. Pierpont also leveraged the stories of Charlie Company’s accounts of the battle (including their leader, Capt. George Hobson), securing media results in their hometown, about their experiences to provide a multi-dimensional perspective. Pierpont coordinated interviews between multiple battle participants and individual reporters, deepening each story and allowing them to fully paint the picture of that fateful day.
As hometown heroes emerged across the country, Pierpont used the local stories as collateral to approach the national media. These human interest pieces laid the foundation for stories of national scope, allowing several top-tier outlets to develop extensive and compelling feature stories. Pierpont secured interest from reporters at some of the nation’s most influential outlets, including
The New York Times,
Los Angeles Times and
Forbes. These stories were instrumental in maintaining high visibility for the PUC recipients and reinforcing the relevancy of the 40-year-old battle to the Obama administration.
Ultimately, Alpha Troop was recognized in a White House Rose Garden ceremony on Oct. 20, 2009, officiated by President Obama, to award the PUC to Alpha Troop and rectify decades of anonymity.
After the ceremony was confirmed, Pierpont worked extensively with key reporters in the White House Press Corps and the national media tocommunicate the full significance of the event. These efforts paid off in full, resulting in numerous major outlets not only covering the event live (including FOX News’ live feed from the Rose Garden ceremony), but also expanding routine White House news coverage into significant, lengthy features that dominated national headlines on October 20.
Though the Pierpont team implemented a targeted strategy to bring recognition to the troop, the results of the campaign would not have been possible without the memories and dedication of the true heroes of the effort — the veterans themselves. Pierpont would like to thank Alpha Troop, Alpha Company, Charlie Company, Capt. John Poindexter and all Vietnam veterans for their service to our country and for the opportunity to help them achieve long-deserved national praise for their extraordinary actions in the Vietnam War.
RESULTS
Overall media impressions exceeded 478 million, spanning 353 outlets in the U.S. and 35 international outlets around the globe. Stories about Alpha Troop were published in virtually every medium, including print, broadcast, radio and blogs.
Specific Results Included:
The Los Angeles Times, Sunday edition: “Vietnam vets finally honored for bloody rescue mission”
The New York Times: “After 39 Years, Soldiers Honored for Vietnam Rescue Mission,” in print, and online with an interactive feature “Veterans’ Voices,” featuring interviews with several Alpha Troop veterans.
The New York Times: “Obama to honor Army troop for valor in Vietnam”
Forbes: “Fighting a Two-Front War”
The Associated Press Three chronological stories preceding the award and following the ceremony, including captured photos from the day at the White House
USA Today’s The Oval Blog: “Obama, Afghanistan, Vietnam: Troops must be 'absolutely necessary'”
USA Today’s The Oval Blog: “Real lesson of Vietnam: We're all on the same side”
ABC News: “President Honors Vietnam Veterans in Awarding Highest Military Unit Honor”
ABC News: “The Presidential Planner”
CNN: “Vietnam vets receive presidential citation for heroism”
Fox News: “Drowning in Puddles”
Fox News: “Vietnam Veterans Honored at White House Nearly 40 Years Later”
Fox News Blog: “President Obama Honors Vietnam Vets in Rose Garden Ceremony”
MSNBC: “Obama honors Vietnam veterans”
The Washington Post: “Obama to honor Army troop for valor in Vietnam”
CBS News: “Obama to honor Army troop for valor in Vietnam”
NBC Nightly News Primetime story featuring the Alpha Troop story and Capt. John Poindexter
C-SPAN Video Library: “Presidential Remarks to Presidential Unit Citation Recipients”
NPR News: “Vets Of Vietnam's 'Anonymous Battle' Given High Honor At White House”
The Army Times: “A Troop’s heroics awarded 40 years after battle”
Full-length feature stories in several regional newspapers, including the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Jackson-Clarion Ledger, The Columbia Tribune, The Houston Chronicle
Multiple local broadcast stations ran lengthy feature stories on respective resident veterans during primetime news segments.
The Alpha Troop ceremony was covered on the official websites for the White House, U.S. Army and U.S. Military
