Port Jervis Vietnam Veteran served bravely at 19, but was also glad when he was 'homeward bound'
- sharonsiegel1954
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 7 minutes ago
By Sharon E. Siegel
PORT JERVIS, NY – When looking around your community on Veterans Day, or during special ceremonies, parades, or other times of remembrance, or on any other day or time you are in the presence of a veteran, you are also in the presence of service to their nation that may or not be known or shared.
Vietnam Veteran Ronald S. Mercurio of Port Jervis, NY is among the many veterans who live in Port Jervis and have served in protecting their nation in all types of situations around the world. Like most veterans, Mercurio is humble and quiet about his service, downplaying the danger and conditions, but proud to have answered America’s call to duty.
I am grateful to have spent time with him and to know a small part of that story. Each of these veterans are part of the service and bravery that have helped make and keep America great!
Mercurio was born January 25, 1949 in the Bronx, and grew up with three older siblings. Like others in his neighborhood back then – he remembers riding his bike, playing stickball in the street, and walking a mile-and-a-half to and from school every day.
He graduated from high school in 1967 and received his draft card to service nearly a year later, on May 9, 1968 – his sister’s birthday.
“I had taken a college prep course and was getting ready to go to college for computer science in northern Virginia in the fall,” Mercurio said. “Instead, I was sent a token for a train trip to Fort Jackson for Army training.”
Mercurio completed his AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) and was part of a first Army group to undergo Jungle Training with other soldiers that, like himself, had arrived from New York State.
“We knew our whole company was getting shipped to Nam. We were being trained to survive in Nam and to protect each other,” Mercurio said. “They wanted us to become skilled for anything we might encounter in jungle assignments, to look for booby traps and the enemy. We learned firsthand when we arrived in Vietnam that the enemy could have painted bodies or be disguised as villagers, with proper IDs. They could seem friendly while you were in the village, but turn around and ambush you while you were on your way out.”
He recalls his jungle training group members as all being out to do the best they could in training, including when sent to train as ‘bad guys’ and capture the ‘good guys’ (their sergeants, lieutenants, and other leaders). But these leaders were supposed to win.
“We got into a lot of trouble in that training. We were given all kinds of duties, garbage, etc., as punishment,” chuckled Mercurio. “We captured all of them. We told them “You’re at war right now” and tied them up, put them in a truck, and kept them as Prisoners of War, even the mess hall sergeant. But we were not supposed to win.”
Mercurio’s assignment to Vietnam took him to the Mekong Delta at age 19, and to the 9th Infantry Division, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry. Like other young soldiers around him, he arrived not knowing anyone and was advised to keep it that way, not to get to close to anyone as most were not there long.
During his last four months of service in Vietnam, Mercurio was assigned as a ground sniper and point man, and a helicopter sniper. He worked with the Army and Navy in this assignment. Teams of two snipers would be assigned to helicopter air missions, or dropped from a helicopter for periods of up to a week or two.
While in the air, snipers looked for the enemy carrying food and supplies in sampans in the rivers, and when spotted shot tracer rounds to stop them. They were also dropped from helicopters that flew close to the ground. They would typically land in mud or rice paddies and then move under the cover of bushes, and at times could take temporary shelter in abandoned huts (hooches). If they saw a helicopter go down, they were to secure the area, protect anyone and anything in the helicopter, and help prevent injuries to any surrounding ground troops.
Mercurio found he had built in instincts that helped him sense danger and prevent injuries while on patrol. He kept his eyes and ears open, listening for noise and spotting movement or booby traps. As the first to move forward, he could see and hear what was there.
Ground and weather conditions were brutal on their own.
“It was always hot and humid, over 100-degrees, and monsoons brought days and weeks of rain. When we crossed a river, we used ropes to guide us across. Everyone dealt with the leeches, using cigarettes to burn them off, or a knife to get them off. They would get all over your body. If it was too bad, we were given penicillin,” Mercurio recalled. “And then there were the water buffalos in the wild. They were sacred animals to the Vietnamese. I think the GIs were too clean and they didn’t like our smell. They left the Vietnamese alone, but they didn’t like us.”
Mercurio has a stack of commendations and medals, but did not readily provide that information. Only when urged to show these, he retrieved them from a drawer in his house. They included six or seven Bronze Stars for Heroism and Valor, a Silver Star, Army Commendation Medals with Oak Clusters, and more.
“I was told I was being put in for more if I stayed longer, but it wasn’t awards that I wanted. No. I could have kept getting them, but I wanted to come home. I was homeward bound,” Mercurio said. “You had to be fit mentally to conquer your experience, but it changes you. It’s a reality check to be able to live in the world we live in.”
Mercurio returned home and worked for Con Edison for 38-years and as an emergency dispatcher for 20 years. He lives in Port Jervis with his wife Diane, and the couple has six grown children.
Mercurio did receive treatment for PTSD, after returning home, which he said helped a lot. He urges anyone who sees the types of things soldiers experience in war to seek such counseling, and to find the right counselor.
“While I was there, I saw a lot. We all did. Losses, loss of limbs – we would apply pressure to the wounds, and get the injured to the nearest hospital. It didn’t affect me while I was helping with even the worst of injuries, because we were doing whatever was needed at that time. But some of this did get me later, and so has the loss of some veterans once they came home,” Mercurio said.
“Counseling really helps and it’s there for anyone who needs it. And one veteran can always call another for help. A veteran will never turn down helping a fellow veteran.”
