thedrifter
12-17-07, 10:46 AM
Selfless service recognized
A Marine Corps retiree in Davis was celebrated for helping collect and identify the remains of lost troops.
By CRYSTAL LEE
Article Created: 12/17/2007 07:01:32 AM PST
The families of missing comrades are constantly on U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ron Broward's mind.
As a rifleman during the Korean War, Broward entered into battle with his friend Warren "Jackson" Rarick on Hill 516, also known as Horseshoe Ridge, and fought together against the Chinese troops coming in from North Korea. Broward was injured during battle and Rarick was listed missing in action.
To this day, Rarick's remains have not been found.
And Broward, now retired and living in Davis, works steadily to find closure not only for himself and Rarick's family, but for the families of all missing Marines.
He began working with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, in 1998, to help match unidentified remains with the names of those reported missing in action through extensive research, DNA testing and patience.
More than 80,000 servicemen are missing from the Korean War, Vietnam and World War II. From Korea alone, 8,000 soldiers, 650 of whom were Marines, are still missing.
Broward continues to search for them. In March next year, he plans to accompany a JPAC team to South Korea to look for soldiers' remains and bring them back to the U.S.
Broward's work is unpaid and he covers his own expenses on trips.
His dedication has not gone unnoticed - he walked into a Davis brewery for lunch over the weekend and was surprised to find more than 100 Marine veterans and their families, including many friends, who were there to thank him.
An ad hoc committee from the Yolo detachment of the Marine Corps League organized the celebration and gave him a national-level award.
Yolo County Supervisors Matt Rexroad and Mike McGowan, who are Marine veterans, presented Broward with a resolution on behalf of the supervisors. Broward, they said, epitomizes the spirit of being a Marine - "semper fidelis," or "always faithful."
"Each one of those Marines has some people that are attached to them. ... After that Marine is lost, or that service member is lost, we have a continued obligation to take care of those family units," Rexroad said.
Retired Major Gen. J. Michael Myatt, president and chief executive officer of the Marines Memorial Association, also said that Broward represents what it is to be a Marine.
"Once you wear the title 'Marine,' it changes you forever," Myatt said. "You look differently, you walk differently, you talk differently, you smell differently."
Broward also received a certificate of recognition from Congressman Mike Thompson, presented by County Veterans Services Officer Ted Puntillo.
Jim Mortensen, the sergeant-at-arms, said he served in Korea during the same time as Broward but in different organizations. Nevertheless, Mortensen said he believes Broward is a warrior.
"Ron Broward is one of the finest representatives of the Marine Corps," Mortensen said. "Not only because of his recent actions in identifying missing Marines, but for being the warrior that he was (in Korea)."
"He's a wonderful person - so unassuming," said Mortensen's wife Jo Ann.
Ellie
A Marine Corps retiree in Davis was celebrated for helping collect and identify the remains of lost troops.
By CRYSTAL LEE
Article Created: 12/17/2007 07:01:32 AM PST
The families of missing comrades are constantly on U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ron Broward's mind.
As a rifleman during the Korean War, Broward entered into battle with his friend Warren "Jackson" Rarick on Hill 516, also known as Horseshoe Ridge, and fought together against the Chinese troops coming in from North Korea. Broward was injured during battle and Rarick was listed missing in action.
To this day, Rarick's remains have not been found.
And Broward, now retired and living in Davis, works steadily to find closure not only for himself and Rarick's family, but for the families of all missing Marines.
He began working with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, in 1998, to help match unidentified remains with the names of those reported missing in action through extensive research, DNA testing and patience.
More than 80,000 servicemen are missing from the Korean War, Vietnam and World War II. From Korea alone, 8,000 soldiers, 650 of whom were Marines, are still missing.
Broward continues to search for them. In March next year, he plans to accompany a JPAC team to South Korea to look for soldiers' remains and bring them back to the U.S.
Broward's work is unpaid and he covers his own expenses on trips.
His dedication has not gone unnoticed - he walked into a Davis brewery for lunch over the weekend and was surprised to find more than 100 Marine veterans and their families, including many friends, who were there to thank him.
An ad hoc committee from the Yolo detachment of the Marine Corps League organized the celebration and gave him a national-level award.
Yolo County Supervisors Matt Rexroad and Mike McGowan, who are Marine veterans, presented Broward with a resolution on behalf of the supervisors. Broward, they said, epitomizes the spirit of being a Marine - "semper fidelis," or "always faithful."
"Each one of those Marines has some people that are attached to them. ... After that Marine is lost, or that service member is lost, we have a continued obligation to take care of those family units," Rexroad said.
Retired Major Gen. J. Michael Myatt, president and chief executive officer of the Marines Memorial Association, also said that Broward represents what it is to be a Marine.
"Once you wear the title 'Marine,' it changes you forever," Myatt said. "You look differently, you walk differently, you talk differently, you smell differently."
Broward also received a certificate of recognition from Congressman Mike Thompson, presented by County Veterans Services Officer Ted Puntillo.
Jim Mortensen, the sergeant-at-arms, said he served in Korea during the same time as Broward but in different organizations. Nevertheless, Mortensen said he believes Broward is a warrior.
"Ron Broward is one of the finest representatives of the Marine Corps," Mortensen said. "Not only because of his recent actions in identifying missing Marines, but for being the warrior that he was (in Korea)."
"He's a wonderful person - so unassuming," said Mortensen's wife Jo Ann.
Ellie