Page 59 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2020- Online Magazine

ARMY
VIETNAM

SHALLOWATER

Arriving back stateside, Ron said, “Flying into
Los Angeles, we heard there were a bunch of war
protesters there, so they landed us in the desert
and drove us into L.A. on an immigration bus with
bars on the windows. I was happy to leave Lubbock
when I went in the service, but when I came back,
I was sure glad to see it. Back in Lubbock, I went
to work at Lonestar Cotton Gin and later the U.S.
Post Office. A year or two later, I met Vickie, and
we married on February 14, 1974. We had three
daughters, Tanya, Angela, and Brandy. I retired
from the Post Office in 2006. Sadly, I lost Vickie
in 2018. We had been married for 44 years.” It is
obvious that Ron’s family is the most important
thing in his life because this American hero with
in. There were so many NVA that bullets were three Purple Hearts just wants to be remembered as
flying everywhere. A shell hit between me and the a good husband and father.
radioman, and again, I was blown off my feet. I
was sent back to the hospital again. The surgeon
recognized me and said, ‘Don’t you know how to
duck out there?’ They put 137 stitches in my chest
and pulled out a round from an AK-47 from my
hip.”

Back in the states, Ron’s parents got a visit from the
Air Force. “Our unit was in some of the heaviest
fighting at the time. We were on the news a lot.
Two guys showed up and told my folks that I was
dead. They came back later and told them there’d
been a mistake – that I wasn’t dead, just severely
wounded. I spent two months back at the hospital
in Cam Ranh Bay. I was sent back to my unit on
the frontlines and wound up at what was called
‘Hamburger Hill’ (Hill 937). I wanted to help the
wounded, but when the captain saw me, he said,
‘Not with three Purple Hearts you’re not. You’ve
done your duty.’ The hill had been bombed so
many times that there was nothing living left on the
last 50 yards to the top. We had 72 killed and 372 Prosperity Bank proudly supports our
wounded. The worst part for me was having to go
down to the morgue and identify the dead.” Veterans.

"The last thing I remember about Vietnam is THANK YOU for defending our freedom
that, as we were flying over the top of Black and sacrificing so much.
Virgin Mountain (Nui Ba Den), I could see North
Vietnamese running around all over the place.” ProsperityBankUSA.com

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