In 1968 Johnny completed his boot camp training at Ft Polk Louisiana.
Following this, he was ordered to Ft Hood,{now Ft Cavazos}Texas. He was assigned to 2nd Armored Division ‘Hell on Wheels’ mechanized infantry
After this, he was sent to Pleiku, South Viet Nam
I remember Johnny coming home on leave after his training. At the time, our family lived on East Kuhn St, in Edinburg, Texas
Pa, Ma & Johnny dressed in his Army uniform, went to visit relatives, Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Johnny put his duffel bag in a closet & told me it was not to be touched, to keep an eye👀 on it.
I was 15 then.
While they were gone, curiosity got the best of me. I wondered why he was keeping it a secret.
I began to snoop around. The duffel bag had a lock on it. I was not going to be deterred by it.
My hand was small enough to fit into the duffel bag. I put my hand in & began feeling around until I brought a booklet out. On it the title read: “How to speak Viet Namese” 😂🤣
Oh boy! Felt like I had hit the jackpot.
When our parents & Johnny returned from visiting, conversation was light. Eventually it came around to the war situation.
Ma asked the inevitable question.
“Are You going to Viet Nam?” Ma was definitely worried, having heard of Edinburg sons of family friends having lost their lives, including our uncle’s brother.
Johnny answered in the negative. “No, Ma, I’m not”
An uneasy quiet, which seemed an eternity, began.
I’m sure my parents could sense something was bothering me. I didnt know what to do. I felt uneasy. I debated whether I should say something of what I knew.
I knew my brother was not leveling with our parents because he did not want to hurt them.
If I spoke up, I would blow my brother’s cover & raise our dad’s ire.
I had to let our Ma know. “Johnny is going to Viet Nam.” Johnny looks right through me(with the I’m gonna get you later, stare)
Ma lets out a mother’s grief. Pa says, “how the**** do You know?”
I now had three people against me. All because I was doing, in my mind, right. It was more like: spilling the beans, letting the cat out of the bag, (We’re gonna get Your ass later)
‘How the heck do You know, Mario?”
“While You were gone, I did what I was told not to do. I stuck my hand in Johnny’s duffle bag & found this booklet.”
Pa chewed my ass off, Johnny said he was gonna “get me later” I left the room. Never got so much hassle for doing right.
Oh well.
I believe it was about two weeks Johnny was home on leave. The day arrived when we had to go to the McAllen airport to see him off.
This day, to me, was one of the saddest times of my life. Ma, me, Arnie and Xavier were with Johnny. I remember it was a cold, rainy day.
While people were boarding the Trans Texas Air propeller plane, Johnny had left his duffel bag there and came down to speak with us. Then he boarded the plane again.
A few minutes passed when he de-planed again. We could tell Johnny was a bit nervous. Again, Johnny boarded the plane.
By this time, we all began to feel really sad, biting our lip, when we realized what this meant. One more time Johnny de-planed. Johnny hugged each one of us, as tears began to fall. We were not sure if we’d see Johnny again.
Ma was crying, Johnny was crying, I was crying, Arnie and Xavier were crying.
The pilot was very patient with Johnny holding up the departure. Eventually, he opened the window and motioned to Johnny to board the plane. He had held up the plane for more than 20+ minutes.
Johnny boarded the plane after hugging us one more time leaving us all crying unconsolable tears.
The door was shut. As the plane began to taxi and rev the engines, it turned, the props blowing cold raindrops on our faces.
Rolling down the airstrip, the plane took off into the rainy day. As it went by, we saw Johnny waving goodbye through the window, we were still crying.
These memories made me shed tears recalling & reliving this again. I felt it has to be told before Im gone.🙏🏽🪖🌞😎🕶️👓🚛👍🏽 JUAN ANTONIO RUIZ 1949-2017
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