Fort Knox has gone through a lot of changes since 1965, to include the destruction of many buildings such as the old WWII barracks in which many a basic trainee, like Ron Meyer, stayed.
Ron and his wife Sue visited post recently and took a drive down memory lane--back to 1965 when he arrived in Louisville, bound for Fort Knox, aboard a train. In fact, it was exactly 50 years to the day that he drove back onto the installation.
"I am from Wisconsin and on Oct. 25, 1965 at the age of 21, I was drafted into the Army," Ron recalled. "During high school I considered joining a Reserve unit, but my parents would have had to sign for me."
Ron arrived in Louisville, and was bused to Fort Knox where he was welcomed by a billboard that said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy."
His memories of Fort Knox included WWII barracks heated by coal stoves--hence the need for "fire guards;" a lot of "hurry up and wait"--especially for the chow line; two hills he will never forget called Agony and Misery and, "some of the songs we sang to stay in step."
"I didn't have any goals military wise but hoped to get some type of Army technical job--as it turned out my MOS (military occupational specialty)… Military Police, took me to Fort Gordon, Georgia," he explained. "(After a) successful completion in March of 1966, many of us had orders for Vietnam. I didn't mind going to Vietnam--actually, I looked forward to it."
The former MP said he was raised in a patriotic family and like his father, wanted to do "his part." But, his mother felt his father had done enough for the whole family, refusing to sign his Reserve papers during high school because she felt her husband did his part during WWII.
"My father was assigned to the 101st Airborne, 327th Glider Infantry Division," Ron said of his father's military service. "He battled through the Normandy Invasion and then when Operation Market Garden went into force his glider was hit by German flak killing the pilot. The co-pilot, who had no experience, safely landed the glider--I met him in person several years ago in Florida."
But landing the glider safely was the only bit of good luck Ron's father had that day. When his father and the crew exited, German soldiers were waiting for them. They were packed into railroad cars and eventually sent to Moosburg, Germany Stalig 7-A where he remained a POW for the rest of the war.
"My mother received a telegram that he was a MIA and three months later found out he was a POW," he said. "Growing up as a kid, he hardly ever said much (about it) to my siblings and me, but I do know he survived a living hell. I met my father for the first time when I was 16 months old."
Ron's arrival date in Vietnam was March 24, 1966 and he was eventually stationed in Phan Rang with the 504 MPs where he and the men of a detachment from Company A pulled security details, road reconnaissance missions, guard duty, escorts, night patrol, and patrolled "The Strip" for off duty GIs. And one time, he was assigned as a gunner on a Huey.
He had just written home informing his parents that Phan Rang appeared to be a relatively safe area---but on Feb. 4, 1967, with about six weeks left on his tour, all that changed.
Ron and a buddy, Ken Hobson, from Lamar, Missouri, had gotten off duty at midnight and were sitting around drinking beer and talking about home. Their Vietnamese dog, Odd Job, alerted them to VC in their backyard at about 1:30 a.m.
"There was no security there except my buddy and me, and we had no weapons. We ran for cover behind a sand bag wall when he asked me if he should get our rifles," Ron recalled. "I said 'yes and hurry!' I remained vigilant and waited until he returned. (By that time) they were coming toward us but it was too late for me. He couldn't get a rifle to me and then said, 'Get down!' I no sooner got down when a grenade went off, and I heard automatic fire.
"Hobson began to fire back at them, killing one of them, but they still were able to throw a satchel charge at the building."
It was a two-story brick French villa, called the "MP Station" where the nine MPs slept and lived. He said it was the loudest and most deafening noise he ever heard. The building was leveled, and then there was silence. Ron said he was knocked unconscious and buried alive under the rubble of the building.
"I do not know how long I was out, (but I thought,) 'Oh God I'm dead, what will my family think.' The adrenalin rushed in me as I tried to move under (my) temporary tomb and push my way out but I couldn't," he added. "I heard some things snapping in my leg not knowing that shrapnel had penetrated my right leg in the tibia."
Eventually he saw flares in the dark sky, and then "the sweet sound of a Huey."
He said that all nine of the MPs were hurt, some worse than others but they all survived. Hobson received the Bronze Star and Ron received a Commendation letter as well as the Purple Heart. He spent six weeks in a hospital in Japan where he had surgery on his leg, and four months in various hospitals before ending up at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Shortly after, he left the Army, went home and started a career in law enforcement that spanned 32 ? years from 1969-2001. He retired from the Kiel Police Department, in the east central part of Wisconsin, but not before marrying Sue in 1969, raising four children, and working his way up the ranks to chief of police.
"I entered the Army as a boy and came out a man--the Army taught me leadership, as well as discipline and survival," he said. "Being in the MPs set me up for my lifetime career. I truly enjoyed law enforcement and could not imagine having any other profession."
Ron said that he was "honored to have worn a uniform at Fort Knox fifty years ago and to have served in Vietnam." But he added that he was very proud of all the "kids" now that are serving their country.
"Keep up the good work," he advised. "Knowing they are defending our country and making many sacrifices, I feel safe and very fortunate to be an American. God be with them."
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