The military identification tag of an American soldier who fought the Vietnam War has been found in Russia and returned home to his widow in North Dakota. Also called a “dog tag”, the ID belonged to Ronald Hepper; he died in 2007 at the age of 58 after his family moved to Bismarck in North Dakota.
During the war in Vietnam, Hepper got severely injured by an exploding hand grenade on June 11, 1969. The blast blew away his boots in which he hid a number of tags. He was rushed to the Army hospital where hundreds of wounded soldiers had their legs amputated. He had numerous shrapnel in his legs but the doctors were able to remove them all and save his legs without amputating them.
Before his discharge from the Army, Hepper won the Purple Heart award and he returned home to Isabel in South Dakota. He got into the Army in 1967 after he completed high school, and he had served with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade where he was affectionately nicknamed “Cowboy”.
An American tourist who had been traveling in Russia came across Hepper’s dog tag 51 years after he last used it in Vietnam. How the military tag got to Russia remains a mystery. The tourist bought it from a vendor in Moscow and then sent it to the American Embassy who forwarded it to the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington DC for onward delivery to Hepper’s family.
Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota personally delivered the recovered tag to Ruth, Hepper’s widow. Also in attendance at the short ceremony were Major General Al Dohrmann, Hepper’s daughter Julie Hornbacher and her husband Jim, Hepper’s brother Stanley Hepper and his wife Kathleen. The tag was delivered to the family in Capitol, Bismarck.
Gov. Burgum said he and all North Dakotans are grateful to the numerous soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War and returned the ID tag to the Heppers on behalf of a grateful state and nation.
“We are eternally grateful for the courageous service and sacrifices made by Ron Hepper and all North Dakotans who proudly served their country in the Vietnam War, as well as their families, especially those whose loved ones never came home,” Burgum said. “While we wish we were able to return these tags to Ron himself, we are thankful for the opportunity and tremendous honor to present this keepsake to Ruth on behalf of a grateful state and nation.”
Source: foxnews.com
