| Post
Graduation |
| Life moved fast for Ron. [He]
was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps as a Second
Lieutenant. In the summer after graduation from Texas A&M, my
brother married Jana Hamilton, a Texas Tech journalism graduate
from Odessa. By the time he departed for the war in Vietnam, Ron
and Jana had given birth to Karoni Lynn (Jana did most of the
work).
Ron did some extensive training
with the Corp. He participated in naval officer flight training
at Quantico, Virginia. On training graduation day, a sergeant
snapped off the head of a live turtle with his teeth in
celebration of the group's success.
Flight training occupied the
next few months of the young family's time. ... [F]light
instruction was given concerning the A-6. Part of the teaching
dealt with the art of parachuting out of the aircraft. Ron loved
the thrill of jumping. It exhilirated. On one occasion, he
floated down into the Pacific. The landing was fine until he saw
the dorsal fin of a shark. His blood pressure shot up. He was in
the raft with great rapidity.
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| Volunteering for
Vietnam |
| After completion of his
training, Lieutenant Forrester volunteered for service in
Vietnam. He did so for several reasons. The primary reason he
volunteered was that he believed in the cause. Communism was
evil, and the Domino Theory had declared that we would lose all
of Southeast Asia if the aggression of the North Vietnamese was
not abruptly halted.
The Forresters, least of all
Ron, did not buy into that left-wing hippie philosophy which
issued into chants such as "Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids did you
kill, today ?" Ron doubted not. The war was just. He bought into
the "America, love it or leave it" school of thought. If the
wimps wanted to scoot on up to Canada, we were better off without
the maggots and their crap. He would do the right
thing.
Other reasons contributed to
his willingness to go. Ron loved to fly, and he wondered how he
would react in a combat situation. He viewed it as a game just
like they had played at Texas A&M, only the stakes were higher.
It was the major leagues. He wasn't afraid to play, and just like
then, he intended to win.
Besides, war was his duty as an
officer. His lifelong dream had been to pursue a military career,
and let's face it. That career would be enhanced by overseas
combat. It would facilitate the climbing of the ladder, and he
planned to someday plant his foot on the top rung.
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| The Road to Vietnam |
| In August of 1972, Ron was
assigned to Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 533. The "Hawks"
had been deployed to Nam Phong, Thailand, in June of 1972. Their
responsibility was to fly night missions over Vietnam. Flights
were of the sortie variety. That is to say, they were combat
missions involving only one airplane. Normally, a primary bombing
target was identified for each sortie.
The base at Nam Phong was
sarcastically referred to as "The Rose Garden." The nickname was
derived from Marine recruiting advertisements in the states which
appealed to the macho aspect of life in the Corps. The ads always
concluded with "The United States Marine Corps: We never promised
you a rose garden."
"The Rose Garden" was austere.
It made Motel 6 look like the Embassy Suites. Pilots and crewmen
didn't sleep in barracks. They took their rest in a tent without
the adornment of a bed. The squadron has a single shower. You had
the choice between cold water and no water. Hot was was a luxury
"The Rose Garden" didn't feature. No menus were available. You
ate what they sloshed on your plate, and the meal was meant for
nutrition only. Taste was no a consideration.
Several stops were required
before Ron could join Squadron 533. On August 24, he was flown to
Tokyo. From here, he went to Iwakuni, Japan, where his orders
were to be processed. While waiting, he traveled to Hiroshima
where the first atomic bomb was dropped on August of
1946.
At Hiroshima, my brother
visited Peace Memorial Park which is located at the approximate
epicenter of the blast. The park contains a museum and monuments
dedicated to those killed in the explosion. Postwar Hiroshima was
dedicated by the Japanese to peace.
Here, at ground zero, Ron was
touched. He was touched by the fact that people die in war, and
death of such nature is not pretty. On the other hand, Ron
perceived that sometimes peace can only come after war. The
Japanese weren't from Missouri, but somebody had to show
them.
The lieutenant's thinking
process was jarred by another reality. Soon he would be raining
bombs down on the enemy. The pay loads that he would deliver were
not as destructive as an A-bomb, but they were deadly
nonetheless. Hopefully, they would held give birth to
peace.
Finally, Lt. Forrester arrived
in Nam Phong on August 28th. Destiny chose a difficult time for
him to do his duty. The war would intensify drastically. The
going was starting to get tough which would call for the tough to
get going according to the Semper Fidelis philosophy. Nixon meant
to end the war, and he wasn't afraid to bomb the enemy into
submission.
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