lest we forget

HORN, RONALD DAVID

Rank / Branch:

  • SSG (POSTHUMUOUS), U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1938-11-24

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • HOSTILE, SMALL ARMS

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • MARRIED

Unit:

  • II FIELD FORCE

Date Of Loss:

  • 1968-10-03

Loss Coordinates:

  • TAY NINH

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • RONALD DAVID HORN, STAFF SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • SILVER STAR, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT, VIETNAM SERVICE

BIOGRAPHY

  • Ronald "Ronny" Horn, was born November 24, 1938, in Luling, Texas. He was the son of Millie Alice Roberts Horn and Andy Alex Horn. He moved with his family to Florey Camp in Andrews when he was young. After graduating from Andrews High School in May 1957, Ronny enrolled at Texas Tech University where he was a sportswriter for the Texas Tech paper and won first place in the Tech Poetry Contest "Harbinger'59". Two years after beginning at Tech, Ronny transferred to Mexico City College, now the University of the Americas, and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature in 1963. Ronny was an avid reader and collected pre–Columbian Art and lived and traveled extensively in Mexico. He enjoyed fly fishing, tennis, swimming, hunting, and had a great love for poetry, not to mention life in general.
  • After college, on December 12, 1963, Ronny enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was a true patriot and had an intense pride in America and felt strongly about all citizens doing all they could for their country. He was so proud of his accomplishments. When he graduated from Airborne School, he served in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, until June 1966. During this time, he married Barbara Ann on May 1965. Ronny and Barbara Ann had two daughters, Angela and Catherine.
  • During the two and a half years Ronny served in the military, he had an overwhelming desire to serve a tour in Vietnam. But at the end of his enlistment, this desire had not been fulfilled. Ronny took his discharge with that one regret and moved his family to New Mexico where he went to work for Shell Oil Company. As time passed, Ronny still regretted that he had not had the opportunity to serve his country in the still on-going conflict in Southeast Asia. Learning that his old unit, the 101st, had shipped out to Vietnam, he reenlisted for a short term and hoped to rejoin his old unit. Regardless of personal sacrifices, he felt privileged to be able to serve his country and shipped out shortly after he re-enlisted on August 5, 1968. Ronnie was not able to rejoin the 101st Airborne, but took an assignment as a Fire Directional NCO for the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 13th Artillery Regiment under the operational control of the II Field Force.
  • On the morning of October 3rd, 1968, in the Tay Ninh province, Ronny's unit was awakened to the sound of enemy fire and very soon they were attacked by hostile Viet Cong troops who had surrounded them during the night. A bitter battle ensued for a number of hours and the American and their allies were faced with the possibility of running out of ammunition. Word was sent by radio that reinforcements were needed, and ammo was dwindling rapidly. A helicopter was dispatched with ammunition directed for their unit. While the ammo was being unloaded from the air, the helicopter was shot down. There on the ground near the wreckage was the much-needed ammo. Someone was going to have to go after it if the troops were to have a chance at survival. Ronny was the first soldier to attempt this task. He ran to the site of the wreckage and collected a number of ammo belts and managed to get back to his position with them. He was in the process of distributing them when he was mortally wounded. He retrieved enough ammunition for the rest of his unit to gain enough time until they were airlifted out.
  • The other casualties that day occurred on the helicopter, tail number 67-17595 that had crashed from ground fire. Of the five personnel on the helicopter, three of the crewmen perished, one from being pinned in the crash and the other two from ground fire. The fourth casualty was a passenger and was an advisor from the 5th Special Forces and he also perished from ground fire immediately after extracting himself from the helicopter. The pilot was injured seriously but was able to be rescued. The co-pilot and a door gunner were also awarded the Silver Star for refusal to abandon those injured personnel on the ground from the crash and it resulted in the loss of their lives.
  • Ronny was the only "Killed in Action" of the troops on the ground. Ronny was promoted to SSG posthumously and was awarded a posthumous Silver Star for his actions which resulted in the loss of his life. He was also awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service and the Purple Heart.
  • Ronny was buried with full buried honors in the Andrews City Cemetery in the old cemetery. He was survived by his wife, his wife and two children and also survived by his parents of Andrews.
  • TEXAS TECH 1959
  • RONNY IN VIETNAM
  • OLD ANDREWS CEMETERY, ANDREWS, TEXAS