Family Reconnects With Vietnam Vet With Recovered Footage
For Memorial Day, ABC News helped a family reconnect with a relative who died more than 50 years ago in Vietnam.
Captain Riley Leroy Pitts was killed by enemy fire in 1967 at the age of 30 just weeks before he was to come home, and was the first Black officer to receive the Medal of Honor. It all started when Mark Pitts’ mother was watching a Muhammed Ali documentary, and saw her husband being interviewed. Turns out, ABC had way more footage they found of Pitts before he was killed and his crew talking about him. They showed his family that footage, who were understandably emotional getting to hear his voice again after all these years.
Captain Pitts has a park named after him in his hometown of Oklahoma City.