Lenard Daugherty was born in 1948 in Georgia. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 28, 1967, and completed basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in November 1967. PFC Daugherty next attended vehicle operator school, followed by service as a heavy and light vehicle driver with the Field Support Company of the U.S. Army Combat Developments Command Experimentation Command at Fort Hunter Liggett, California, from December 1967 to July 1968. His next assignment was as a heavy truck driver with 1st Battalion of the 10th Cavalry Regiment in South Vietnam from August 1968 until he was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War on May 11, 1969. After spending 1,417 days in captivity, SP6 Daugherty was released during Operation Homecoming on March 27, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and then received an honorable discharge from the Army on June 29, 1973.

The Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.