the BEACON Newspaper, Indiana nov 2018 | Page 8

Page 8A THE BEACON November 2018

This Veterans Day marks the one-hundredth year since the end of WWI . The Beacon would like to thank ALL of the Veterans who have given so much to protect our freedom .

Jordan R . Bondurant

Jordan R . Bondurant was born in Lawrenceburg , Indiana in 1996 and was raised by his mother , Janelle Bondurant . He is the youngest of three children . His older brother ,

Jordan Bondurant Brett , is an

Army war hero who was injured in Afghanistan and received the Purple Heart . Lindsee , his sister , graduated from South Dearborn High School and entered the U . S . Army in 2014 .

Sp / 4 Bondurant took basic training at Ft . Benning , GA and then was sent to Ft . Hood , TX for AIT . He was a proud member of the Third Cavalry Regiment . He was then deployed to Afghanistan and assigned to Helmand Province located between the Helmand and Arghandab Rivers . The population of the area is approximately 200,000 .

Specialist Bondurant was wounded in action by enemy combatants on Oct . 29 , 2016 , at Lashkar Gah , also called Bost , which is located in

S

ALUTE

Southern Afghanistan .

Sp / 4 Bondurant was medically retired from the U . S . Army in Oct . 2017 . His grandfather , Jerry Bondurant , was a member of the 101st Airborne , the Screamin ’ Eagles , during the Vietnam War . Sp / 4 Bondurant ’ s greatgrandfather , Charles W . Bondurant , was a World War II Navy Veteran .

Jordan loves to hunt , fish , and spend time with his nieces .

The family has an outstanding history of being American Patriots . Sp / 4 Bondurant was proud to carry on this family tradition and is also proud of his service to our nation .

Kenneth D . Nelson

Ken Nelson was born in

1945 to Ray and Phyllis

TO THE MILITARY

Nelson . He has one brother , Timothy , and four sisters , Frankye , Linda , Doris and Becky .

Kenneth Nelson He graduated from Hamilton Catholic High School in 1963 and then attended Eastern Kentucky University where he graduated in 1967 .

Lt . Nelson was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and entered the United States Army in Jan . 1968 . He was sent to Vietnam where he was assigned to the 25th Infantry

Division at Tay Ninh . He was a Platoon Leader with the 423rd Mechanized Infantry and was wounded by shrapnel from enemy fire on June 27 , 1968 , and was awarded a Purple Heart .

He saw heavy action during his time in Vietnam and was awarded several medals . Some of them are : National Defense Medal , Vietnam Campaign Medal , Vietnam Service Medal with four bronze stars , the Bronze Star with “ V ” for valor , Army Commendation Medal , Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm , Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class , Meritorious Unit Citation , Presidential Unit Citation , Expert Badge for rifle and pistol , Parachute Badge and the Combat Infantryman ’ s Badge . Ken was also awarded the Silver Star , our nation ’ s 3rd highest award for gallantry in action with one oak leaf cluster , which denotes a second award of this prestigious and highly coveted award .

Ken and his wife , Connie , have been married for thirty-eight years and live in Moores Hill . They have six children : boys , Kristopher , Tom , Bobby , and Andy . They have two daughters : Krista and Amanda , and fourteen grandchildren .

Mr . Nelson is a True American Hero and highly decorated . He is proud of his service

to our great nation . Benjamin C . Houze Jr .

Ben Houze Jr . was born in Aurora in 1949 to Ben Sr . and Betty ( Donley ) Houze . He attended the old Southside Grade School . He had three brothers , David Allen , Gary Wayne and Steve along with two sisters , Pamela and Brenda .

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Nick Ullrich located the name of his fallen friend on the Wall That Heals .

Sgt . Nick Ullrich is a Vietnam Veteran and combat wounded warrior . He volunteered to help assemble the Wall That Heals that was recently displayed in our community .

Mr . Ullrich served with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade and was in Vietnam for the Tet Offensive where his company was inserted into the race track at Saigon to ward off some major enemy attacks .

Several volunteers worked together on that very hot day to assemble the Wall . A bus load came from the Southeastern Indiana Vocational School . Lunch was provided by the wonderful people at Baylor .

Mr . Houze entered the United States Marine Corps in July 1966 and started Boot Camp in San Diego , California . He then was sent to Camp

Benjamin Houze

The Wall that Heals

Pendleton followed by being sent to Vietnam where he served two tours of duty . While serving at An Hoa Combat Base in Quang Nam Province , Mr . Houze was wounded during a fierce battle with the North Vietnamese Army . He suffered

As soon as the Wall was assembled , Nick went directly to Panel 45E , Line 41 to touch the name of his buddy , Wince Issac Overton , from Pikeville , KY . He was with Nick on patrol on March 20 , 1968 , and was killed in action while manning an M-60 machine gun . Nick wanted to be the first to pay tribute to a brother veteran . He said it ’ s a day he will never forget .

Mr . Ullrich was awarded the Bronze Star with “ V ” for valor , the Combat Infantryman ’ s Badge , Purple Heart and other medals in Vietnam . He is an Eagle Scout and has helped forty others attain that rank as a scout leader . He and his wife , Judy , reside in Aurora .

shrapnel wounds from an enemy grenade while serving with Battery E , Second Battalion , Eleventh Marines , when a sapper platoon supported by mortars , rockets , small arms and automatic weapons fire , attacked the base . Although wounded , Mr . Houze refused medical treatment and continued to battle the enemy and kept securing more ammunition for his fellow Marines .

When a fellow Marine was wounded , Mr . Houze ran through a hail of enemy fire to rescue him and return him to safety . For these actions , he was awarded the Silver Star . Lance Corporal Houze had lived up to the tradition of being a United States Marine .

In addition to the Silver Star and Purple Heart , Mr . Houze was awarded the National Defense Medal , Vietnam Service Medal , Vietnam Campaign Medal , Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm ,

Continued on page 9A

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