Ronald Williams
Ronald Williams is pictured receiving one of his two Purple Hearts.
(Courtesy photo)
Ronald Williams as a young Marine.
Ronald Williams receiving his first Purple Heart.
A display board created by Ronald Williams' grandson, Cooper Williams, tells of the details of his service and shows several photos from his service as well as recent photos of the Marine.
A closeup of one of Ronald Williams' two Purple Hearts.
Ronald Williams was 17 when he enlisted in the Marines on February 14, 1964. He did his boot camp training in San Diego, California; and his ITR training was done at Camp Pendleton, California, where he was stationed at Camp Margarita.
His first 13-month tour on March 11, 1965, and he landed on the beach in Danang, Vietnam, where they occupied Hill 365, known as Monkey Hill, guarding the Danang airport. They returned home in April 1966, but after being home for four months they were told they were doing another 13-month tour and sent to Chu-Lai where they occupied Hill 76 (these are elevations numbers).
Approximately six months into his second tour when getting off the helicopter under an ambush he was shot in the hand and received his first Purple Heart. Two weeks later, he was wounded by a hand grenade booby trap and almost lost his life. After a nine-hour surgery in a hospital tent in Vietnam, he received his second Purple Heart.
He was airlifted back to Camp Pendleton, where he had a total of seven surgeries and was in and out of the hospital for a year. He still has shrapnel throughout his whole body.
Now 75 years old, he has been living in Sagle for 3 1/2 years.
