Posted on 07/10/2017 11:52:53 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Ronald L. Ridgeway was “killed” in Vietnam on Feb. 25, 1968.
The 18-year-old Marine Corps private first class fell with a bullet to the shoulder during a savage firefight with the enemy outside Khe Sanh.
Dozens of Marines, from what came to be called “the ghost patrol,” perished there.
At first, Ridgeway was listed as missing in action. Back home in Texas, his old school, Sam Houston High, made an announcement over the intercom.
But his mother, Mildred, had a letter from his commanding officer saying there was little hope. And that August, she received a “deeply regret” telegram from the Marines saying he was dead.
On Sept. 10, he was buried in a national cemetery in St. Louis. A tombstone bearing his name and the names of eight others missing from the battle was erected over the grave. His mother went home with a folded American flag.
But as his comrades and family mourned, Ron Ridgeway sat in harsh North Vietnamese prisons for five years, often in solitary confinement, mentally at war with his captors and fighting for a life that was technically over.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Interesting story
Comment section is just astonishing
Too bad this Marine's name wasn't one of the names that the Sailor had.
Doug Hegdahl
gotta take into account who reads the compost
Yes...he was lost over the side of a cruiser firing a gun support mission and the concussion blew him over the side. Interesting story...one of the very few the POW’s encouraged to go home for just that reason, that he memorized the names.
Thanks. Jefferson Barracks caught my attention since my uncle (WWII) and grandfather (WWI), are buried there. I have his flag.
It was some time ago that I read the story but I remember that he had a trick to remember large amounts of facts and figures...in this case the name,rank and other vital details of hundreds of POWs.
Also I clearly recall that when he was offered early release he was reluctant to accept but was *ordered* to accept by a Navy officer named Stratton who understood how important the data that he had memorized would be back in DC.
I fear that too many people have no clue the risk one takes when they sign up to serve their country. It is one thing to give one’s life, that is truly a great sacrifice but to have to suffer like this poor kid is unimaginable. He should be honored with all other veterans on a regular basis.
There is no excuse for the way we treat our war heroes at the VA hospitals or watching them be homeless and jobless after what they have given for us.
Agreed! If a vet needs treatment for illness or injury he/she should get the best...and that goes double if the illness/injury is service connected.As for homeless vets...if they served honorably they should get the help they need so they're not sleeping in the snow.
You remember correctly...he almost had to have a “rap” that he memorized...not musical, but it had a rhythm to it. He took it very seriously, by all accounts. He had the North Vietnamese snookered by playing fully into their class warfare BS of being a dumb, simple-minded poor boy being taken advantage of by the imperialist American government. He did it so well they simply didn’t regard him as much more than an imbecile, and he used it to advantage.
Wasn’t Hegdhal the one who played a simpleton while captured and was considered so dumb by the Vietnamese that they gave him a lot of unsupervised latitude in working various jobs around the prison?
IIRC this allowed him to find out the names of the other POWs. He also sabotaged a Viet truck in the compound.
Ah, the answer to my question at #13.
LOL, I remembered the thing about him sabotaging the truck, but couldn’t lay my hands on it, so I didn’t want to say so!
What brass!!!!!!!!!
Where do we get those men?
Agreed.
It is one of the reasons I get nearly crazy angry at so many dumb, stupid, liberal/RINO social programs and grants, then hear that there is not enough money for the VA budget.
If even one penny is spent on a global warming grant that doesn’t go to the VA, that is a crime.
If even a nickel is allocated to some green-government scam, those people should be keelhauled.
If one dime is spent on Obamaphones, those people should be tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail.
I could go on and on. For years now, I have had to drive past what are now faded, ripped, and torn vinyl banners attached to a chain link fence on my commute that said “Waiting years for promised Veteran benefits-Shame on America!”
And I feel shame. And I should...we ALL collectively should.
I read "Last Stand at Khe Sanh" a few months ago...great book, very informative.
Sigh. It reminds me of the famous quote from James Michener's book "Tales of the South Pacific" that nearly brings tears to my eyes when I read it:
"They will live a long time, these men of the South Pacific. They had an American quality. They, like their victories, will be remembered as long as our generation lives. After that, like the men of the Confederacy, they will become strangers. Longer and longer shadows will obscure them, until their Guadalcanal sounds distant on the ear like Shiloh and Valley Forge."
And to that I might add, Khe Sanh. And the story of this man. Khe Sanh was indeed a victory...against all odds, it was a victory, and a story that needs telling.
Oh I did
Still makes me shake my head
Doug Hegdahl
He was one of my Instructors at SERE School and after the training was over at debrief he recited the Names and #’s and was very accessible, super good guy.
He should write Motivational Books, he was a great motivator for me in my younger years and today as well.
Doug Hegdahl
Hero
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