 |
Remember...Ronald Eugene Hesson
|
| Ronald Eugene Hesson was born on June 17, 1945, in Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. He grew up in the home of his parents Charles Otis Hesson (1921-1978) and Bertha Lucille Bailey Hesson (1921-2005) along with one older brother, Garlan Max Hesson (1941-2009). (Find A Grave, Memorial Number 127189862.) The family lived in the area of Glenwood, Cabell County, West Virginia. Growing up, Ronald attended public schools in Cabell County and graduated from Milton High School. |
 Courtesy of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
In August 1964, the USS Maddox was allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin (the attack was later disputed), leading President Johnson to call for air strikes on North Vietnamese patrol boat bases. Two U.S. aircraft were shot down and one U.S. pilot, Everett Alvarez, Jr., became the first U.S. airman to be taken prisoner by North Vietnam. The attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin spurred Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized the President to "take all necessary measures, including the use of armed force" against any aggressor in the conflict. ("Vietnam War Timeline," History.com, 13 September 2017, last updated 27 September 2021, accessed 11 February 2022, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-timeline.)
In February 1965, President Johnson ordered the bombing of targets in North Vietnam in Operation Flaming Dart in retaliation for a Viet Cong raid at the U.S. base in the city of Pleiku and at a nearby helicopter base at Camp Holloway. In March, President Johnson launched a three-year campaign of sustained bombing of targets in North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Operation Rolling Thunder. The same month, U.S. Marines landed on beaches near Da Nang, South Vietnam, as the first American combat troops to enter Vietnam. In July 1965, President Johnson called for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month.
On October 13, 1965, Ronald Hesson was drafted into the Army via the Selective Service and entered active duty in Ashland, Kentucky. His Military Occupation Skill (MOS) was 11B20: Light Weapons Infantry and his service number was 52626528. After his initial training and infantry training, he was sent to Vietnam. His tour began on July 15, 1966. Ronald had the rank of private first Class (PFC) and was assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB), U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. His unit operated in the Tay Ninh Province, Republic of Vietnam (RVN).
The 196th LIB was activated in August 1965 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, as a Train-and-Retain Unit tailored to the concept of light infantry's ability to maneuver. The Brigade was ordered to Vietnam in early summer of 1966 and arrived there by sea and air in August 1966. This first combat operation of the 196th LIB--code-named "Attleboro" after the Massachusetts town -- was initiated on September 14, 1966, from the Brigade's semi-completed base camp in a manioc field just west of Tay Ninh. ("Operation Attleboro: The 196th's Light Infantry Brigade Baptism by Fire in the Vietnam War," HistoryNet, accessed 11 February 2022, https://www.historynet.com/operation-attleboro-the-196ths-light-infantry-brigade-baptism-by-fire-in-the-vietnam-war.htm.) [This article was written by Colonel Charles K. Nulsen Jr. and originally published in the October 1997 issue of Vietnam Magazine.]
Writing for the "Remembrances" page of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website, W. Killian details the incident in which Ronald Hesson lost his life:
Operation Attleboro was a search and destroy operation conducted northwest of Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh Province, RVN, during September 14 – November 24, 1966. While the initial fighting was light, in late October U.S. forces, consisting of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade and the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division), encountered the 9th Viet Cong Division, resulting in a major three-day battle. It was a slugfest of small units set amid treacherous terrain of tangled forest, overgrown jungle, and booby-trapped elephant grass.On November 3, 1966, members of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, were dropped off by trucks near the combat area and began a march to probe for trails. The [They] moved mainly through elephant grass and across a few bone-dry rice paddies. Right after the noon hour when the temperature was around 104 degrees, the trail they followed sprouted many directions. The company split and one squad, led by 2LT Dale A. Perkins, continued along a trail that passed a tall mahogany tree. Its 18-inch base was heavily laced with vines and was circled with small shrubs, the trunk partly rotted away. The point man was 15 paces ahead of the squad when he passed the tree. Suddenly, a large blast was heard as a Viet Cong command-detonated claymore mine exploded from its well-camouflaged position among the roots of the tree.
The lead man, PFC Ronald E. Hesson was killed outright, his body badly mangled. The second man, SP4 James M. Klink, was also killed, his shattered M-16 still clutched in his hands. 2LT Perkins went down also, his chest crushed in, and his RTO (radio telephone operator) lay next to him, badly wounded. Behind the RTO, on the left side of the trail, was SSGT Donald T. Cassidy, with wounds around the head and shoulders, from which he later died. Four others would die, including SP4 Robert L. Fowble Jr., PFC Joel Fuller, PFC John R. Johnson, and SP4 Thomas A. Lawless. Several more men, all wounded, though less grievously, were strung out over 20 meters of trail to the rear of SSGT Cassidy. Eighteen total were struck down by the blast. An LZ (landing zone) had to be cut away within the elephant grass just off the edge of the forest, and the dead and non-walking wounded had to be toted out in ponchos. The backbreaking labor caused even more casualties as several men passed out from the heat. ("Ronald Eugene Hesson," Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, accessed 11 February 2022, https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/22911/RONALD-E-HESSON/.) [Killian's narrative is based on information from the coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and the book Ambush by S.L.A. Marshall.]
Pfc. Ronald Hesson's remains were recovered and returned to the U.S., where he was buried at Union Ridge Cemetery, Glenwood, Cabell County, West Virginia. He will always be remembered for his ultimate sacrifice to our country as he is memorialized at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Panel 12E, Line 14, located in Washington, D.C., as well as at the West Virginia Veterans Memorial located in Charleston, West Virginia.
In 2005, Candie Freeman, who posted Ronald's memorial on Find A Grave, wrote to West Virginia Archives and History that there are two markers In Union Ridge Cemetery for Pfc. Hesson. The family marker reads:
RONALD E HESSON
His military marker reads:
RONALD E HESSON
Commendations earned by Pfc. Ronald Hesson include the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Marksmanship Badge, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. ("Ronald Eugene Hesson," HonorStates.org, accessed 11 February 2022, https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=277965/RONALD-E-HESSON/.)
Article prepared by MAJ (Ret) T. Brad McGee, George Washington High School JROTC
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be
provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant
personal history.
JULY 17, 1945 NOV 3, 1966
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
WEST VIRGINIA
PFC CO B2 196 LT INF BDE
VIETNAM PH
JULY 17 1945 NOV 3 1966
February 2022
Honor...
