Pvt. Kelsey McCarthy, a recent Basic Combat Training graduate from 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, sits on the lap of her grandfather retired Staff Sgt. Larry Reed, who was awarded two Silver Stars while serving with the battalion fighting the...

Pvt. Kelsey McCarthy, a recent Basic Combat Training graduate from 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, looks at command coins with her grandfather retired Staff Sgt. Larry Reed, who was awarded two Silver Stars while serving with the battalion fig...

For one recent Basic Combat Training graduate living up to her grandfather's military legacy pushed her to try harder to succeed.

See Pvt. Kelsey McCarthy's grandfather served in the same unit she trained with nearly a half century earlier, where he was awarded two Silver Stars -- one from the Army and one from the Navy. He is one of three Soldiers to receive the Navy medal.

"It feels me with elation," said Larry Reid, fought with Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion 60th Infantry Regiment in Vietnam where he was awarded the Silver stars, Bronze Star, Soldier's Medal, Air Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, one with a "V" device.

The regiment's moniker, "River Raiders" traces their lineage back to the Vietnam War where they participated in a joint operation in coordination with the U.S. Navy tasked to patrol the various canals and creeks of the Mekong Delta River.

McCarthy too was so excited she "definitely couldn't sleep" the night before graduation because she "was looking forward" to seeing her family at graduation.

Her grandfather being there "definitely made me think that if there was ever a moment I felt like I want to stop, it kept me going -- especially knowing he's done a lot more," she said.

"We made a helicopter insertion," he said recalling Oct. 27, 1968 during his tour in Vietnam. "As we were going up the (patty) dikes by this hootch they opened up on us." The sergeant in front of him, four others, and a "brand-new" captain were killed.

Reed's citation states the then-specialist fourth class, began an assault on the hostile position, running forward through the fusillade to get within grenade range of the emplacement.

"I went up and threw a grenade in the bunker and stopped them," Reed added.

Even so Reid has no qualms about his granddaughter following in his footsteps.

"Keep strong," he advised her.

As the new chapters began, the River Raiders bid farewell to the battalion's commander in Vietnam.

On Oct. 29, the former 3/60th battalion commander in Vietnam, retired Col. Pete Peterson, was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with military honors.