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About the Poet - Ron Leonard
I was born
in Berkeley, California on May 23,1946 and was raised in the bay area until 6th
grade when my family moved to Tigard, Oregon. I attended
David Douglas High School, and Portland State University, where I
was an engineering major.
I was always
the littlest guy in school, so I had to get tough or die. My physical stature
was perfect to be a jockey, and my love of horses made it the logical thing to
do. I could be an engineer anytime.
I spent many
years riding in Oregon, Washington, Canada, and Montana, where I had good
success and won lots of races but very few of the high profile ones.
I was drafted
into the Army in August of 1967, attending basic training at Ft
Polk, Louisiana, then going on to Ft. Rucker for AIT.
I was sent to
Vietnam Mar 7, 1968, where I spent 13 months and "DEROSED" on
April 8 1969. I called it my (tropical vacation:)
I was
assigned to B.Co. 25th Aviation Battalion, 25th Infantry Division,
Cu Chi, Vietnam. While there I met many men, and you are the reason I am doing
this page. I have a bad case of PTSD, and this is my therapy. It
forces me to look the beast in the eye and kill it.
While there I
did my part. I logged over 1000 combat hours in gunships, was
awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, an Air Medal
with 30 clusters or so, a Purple Heart, and nightmares. I was shot down
twice, and had a midair collision with a Cobra and walked away. To this
day, I don't understand why anyone involved in that incident is alive.
I
wouldn't do it again for a million dollars, but then I wouldn't take a million
dollars for what I learned about myself, and mankind as a whole.
Visit Ron's website:
http://25thaviation.org
More Poems by
Ron Leonard
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