Since we're doing Modern History for school this year, I took the kids to see a Memorial from the past century. The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is in downtown San Antonio.
I did a little research about the Vietnam War, so I could "Ted Talk" to the kids on the way there. I didn't realize it lasted 20 years! The older kids and I had just completed Band of Brothers (WWII). It makes me sad to think how Vietnam was treated so differently from WWII. The veterans were not honored like WWII vets were. The outlook toward both wars was very different. It's got to be hard to serve in a war that is hated back home.
I had not put two and two together that my Grandpa, James Joseph Clouse, had won his medals in Vietnam. He was a flight engineer in the Air Force and served in Korea and two tours in Southeast Asia. A 3rd cousin of mine wrote about him at Check-Six.com:
....Lindabury, disoriented as a result of focusing exclusively on the ground fires, developed vertigo and went from a straight-in descending approach to a nose-high unusual attitude. Before Conran could take corrective action, the helicopter settled into one hundred foot trees. The blades striking, the aircraft then fell to the ground like a rock, and the helo rolled on its side and caught fire.
Conran, Lindabury, and Clouse escaped, but after hearing screaming coming from the rear of the helicopter, Conran and Clouse returned to the fiery wreck. Although the flames were intense, and ammunition was exploding around them, the two Americans managed to extricate a fourth crewmember - gunner Bill Sawyer - trapped in the helicopter. The helicopter blew up as soon as Conran and Clouse took the immobile crewman from the area.
Clouse received the Airman’s Medal - the highest decoration an Air Force member may be awarded for non-combat heroism - along with Major Conran for their actions.
A month later he rescued five crew members who had been shot down and were under intense fire.
And a year after that Grandpa was on a Stateside mission and died in plane crash over Nebraska. My dad was 12 years old.
He left behind a great family ~ seven kids and Grandma Shirley. There are 25 of us cousins and holiday get-togethers hold the happiest of memories for me. Proud of you, Grandpa!
No comments:
Post a Comment