Paul Collins/GCD Vietnam vet and Greenon High School grad Randy Ark recounts tales of heroism and patriotism during Greenon High School’s Veteran’s Day celebration.

Vets honored in Enon

PAUL COLLINS
Staff Writer

ENON — Love of country and service was alive and on display for all to see at Greenon High School on Thursday, Nov. 11, as soldiers, families and students came together to celebrate Veterans Day.

The event began with the presentation of the Colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and a stirring rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” After a Veterans Day proclamation, Randy Ark, Army veteran and graduate of the Greenon High School class of 1966, took the podium to share some words with the audience.

The vet used his time on stage to thank the audience for their support and to express his love for other veterans. He began his presentation by asking his fellow Vietnam veterans to rise and be recognized. Ark then gave those standing the hero’s welcome they did not receive when they first returned from their tour of duty.

“I have two words for you guys: welcome home,” said Ark.

Ark then shared some of his personal history with the audience. He told the audience that he was graduated in 1966, a period that he referred to, in jest, as the time “just after Noah’s flood.” He described himself as an ambitious and naive graduate who was completely oblivious to the trials and tribulations of military service and warfare that, at that time, lay just on the horizon.

“I was president of the senior class,” recalled Ark. “So I had high hopes of graduating and attending Wright State College, as it was called at the time. I didn’t know anything about Vietnam. It was not affecting my life at all. I did not know anybody who was serving there. So I didn’t pay much attention to it at all. But it was going to become very influential on my life.”

For Ark, college was tedious and uneventful. Poor performance and a lack of interest set the stage for one eventful day in November of 1967. It was on that day, Ark told the audience, that he received a draft notice. The news, however, did not result in fear or apprehension for the young Ark. Instead, recalled the vet, there was an anticipation of something new and completely different.

“I thought about this,” said Ark. “I actually kind of welcomed it, because I wanted to do something different.”

Following on the footsteps of his father, Ark joined the Army. After selecting his branch, the young Ark picked medic as his profession. The decision, said Ark, was made out of naivete.

“I was very naive,” said Ark. “My thinking at the time was that I would be in a nice, air conditioned hospital surrounded by pretty nurses. And that’s how I would serve my time. But that wasn’t to be.”

It didn’t take long for Ark’s preconceived notions to collide with reality. After training, a 19-year-old Ark was sent to Vietnam in September, 1968. The experience, said Ark, was filled with both good and bad experiences. For the young medic, field triage was the hardest and most challenging part of his tour.

“Field triage is when you have multiple wounded,” explained Ark. “You’re surrounded by all these wounded and you have to figure out who is hurt the worst. Because if you make a mistake trying to determine whose hurt the wort, somebody’s life is at stake. Sometimes, people have internal injuries that you cannot detect and they go into shock. Some of the obvious wounds you can treat. If somebody is bleeding profusely, you jump on that case. But that was tough for me at that age. That was very difficult.”

One of his most vivid memories, Ark told the audience, was of an attack that occurred around 2:30 a.m. With rockets and mortars going off overhead, the young medic ran from bunker to bunker, helping the injured. Before sunlight pierced the curtain of night, Ark helped 17 wounded soldiers. The most memorable part of the event came, however, at the end of the attack. On his way back to his bunker, the weary and sleep-deprived Ark received a word of encouragement that he needed.

“I was walking back,” recalled Ark. “I lit up a cigarette, because everyone smoked. And somebody yelled from across the compound and said, ‘Hey doc!’ I looked over and he said, ‘You done good, doc.’ And that meant a lot to me as a medic, because that was the first time that I was tested under fire. It gave me confidence and it assured me that I had the trust of those men. And that’s important. That’s very important.”

The most painful part of his Vietnam experience, Ark said, came with his return home. Patriotic signs and flag-waving didn’t meet the return soldier. Instead, Ark remembers angry protesters.

“There were people at the airports with signs calling us ‘baby killer’ and all kinds of names,” said Ark. “They were spitting on us. They were throwing orange peelings, sometimes eggs. They were trying to make us feel bad about what we did or where we had been. It was tough. Not what I expected, at least.”

For years, Ark and his fellow Vietnam vets closed up, trying to bury the memories and move on with their lives. In recent years, however, Ark has observed a change in America’s attitude. That change, said the vet, can be detected in the resurgence of patriotic rallies on Veterans Day.

“You people do not know what this means to veterans,” said Ark. “This means something big. It means a lot to us veterans.”