Vietnam Vet Had The Purple Heart–Now He Can Fly The Flag
The Rev. Richard Jenkins didn’t receive a warm welcome when he returned from Vietnam.
Jenkins, who received a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds to his leg, said there were no yellow ribbons, no ticker-tape parades, no standing ovations.
“I had such anger,” said Jenkins, 72, an Army draftee who now lives in Newport. “I didn’t volunteer for any of it.”
Two of his neighbors are doing their part to right that wrong. Jason Lange and Joe Williams recently bought a flagpole and installed it in Jenkins’ front yard to honor his sacrifice and celebrate his service. They also gave him an American flag and a flag that honors Purple Heart recipients.
“What he’s done for us, for our families, is a lot more than we did here,” Williams said.
“With everything that he went through, this is nothing. This is just saying ‘Thank you.’ “
“He was fighting for the country,” said Lange, “fighting for our freedom.”
Jenkins, who has lived on Larry Lane with his wife, Cecelia, for almost 30 years, said he has always wanted a flagpole in his yard.
“I was telling my wife that I wanted to have a flagpole because all of my Purple Heart friends have a flagpole in their yards. I was going to put it right here,” he said, pointing to a spot near his driveway, “but then I said ‘No, it would be better in this place.’ “
The flagpole sits in the middle of a large front yard, surrounded by a swing, trees and a raised flower bed. It is in full view of his deck and kitchen window.
“This was a complete surprise to me,” Jenkins said. “I come out on the deck, look out on the flag and see it open up. I walk down here, and now — like these people fixing the roads — they know I’m a Purple Heart recipient.”
Jenkins grew up in Kansas City, Kan., moved to St. Paul in 1962 and was drafted by the Army in 1964. He was shipped to Vietnam five months later and was told he would be a point man, the first and most exposed position in a combat military formation.
“A point man was the first to step on a booby trap, the first to catch a sniper’s bullet,” he said. “Many people of color were put in the position of point man. I was delegated to this position by a white sergeant. He said, ‘You will be point man,’ I knew that meant I was expendable. The life expectancy of a point man was very short.”
A month and a half after arriving in Vietnam, Jenkins suffered injuries to his left thigh when he stepped on a booby trap. He went through surgery in the jungle, was flown to a hospital in Saigon and spent a week recovering. After he was discharged, he was shipped right back to the front lines, he said.
“I prayed, ‘Dear God, if you bring me back, I’ll do anything you want me to,’ ” he said.
Jenkins, an ordained Pentecostal minister, worked at 3M Co. in Cottage Grove for 14 years as senior quality control technician. He later worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul as a resident chemical dependency chaplain.
For 30 years, he has volunteered as a chaplain at Minnesota prisons. He is an advocate for veterans, serves on the board of Black Veterans of America and counsels those with post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition he was diagnosed with 25 years ago.
“I came back with the survivor’s guilt: ‘Lord, why me?’ ” he said. “The longer I live and the veterans that I have crossed paths with, I know that God has allowed me to come back for a purpose. I know my purpose, I know my destiny.”
His favorite Bible verse is Psalms 37:23-25: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
“I have never looked back,” Jenkins said. “You have to have an impact. To change the lives of people, that’s with the grace of God.”
Williams, who owns ABC Auto Body in St. Paul, said Jenkins was the first to welcome him to the neighborhood when he bought his house in 1996. “I was in the shed, rearranging my tools, and Richard came over and introduced himself,” he said. “As soon as you meet Richard, you just feel comfortable and at home. I knew that we were going to be friends.”
Lange, who grew up in the house next door, works as a boilermaker at the Northern Tier Energy refinery. When he and his wife, Jaclyn, got engaged, they asked Jenkins to officiate at their marriage.
“I have great neighbors,” Jenkins said. “We all laugh and joke. There’s good camaraderie. Even though we are the only people of color who live in this area, I feel very at home. When I came here, I was a stranger and I worried how I would cope, but they have opened their hearts to me.”
When Williams and Lange told Jenkins about their plans to put up a flagpole for him, he told them they were going to make him cry.
“That was the idea,” Lange said. “We wanted to make you cry.”
The men joke about their gift: “He hasn’t gotten the bill yet,” Williams said. “We’re still trying to figure out labor,” added Lange.
Jenkins said he has been telling everyone about Williams and Lange.
“I really appreciate these guys, what they have done for me and my wife and my family, because many neighborhoods you don’t have that,” he said. “I have the best neighbors.”
When he sees the flag flying in the wind, he knows that his sacrifice hasn’t been forgotten, he said.
“It brings honor to what I fought for. There was a time I felt ashamed because of the stuff I’ve gone through, and these gentleman have just blessed me. I’m very appreciative. It means so much to me.”
Tags: Veterans News
