Don Roden – Commander of MOPH 553
As told to Jane Bromley
Sam Houston Roden Sr., World War II Army veteran, fought with the Golden Acorn Battalion (Company E 346th Infantry Regiment 87th Division) in the Battle of the Bulge under Gen. Patton. He came home to his young bride after the war. The soldier became a farmer and raised four sons; this is the story of the youngest one.
Donald Lynn Roden was born in 1949 and grew up with his brothers on a farm near Olton. Lots of native West Texans will be able to relate to this childhood memory: “Mother made my brothers and me cotton sacks so we could pick cotton after school. We also hoed cotton during the summer.” After his senior year from Olton High School in 1967, he enlisted. His brother Eugene had already joined the Navy and was serving in Vietnam on a ship. “I was 18 years old when I joined the Marine Corp. At that time, I wanted to join the toughest military branch.”
After basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) in San Diego, Don was trained to carry the M72 LAW (Light Anti-Tank Weapon – a portable one-shot 66-mm unguided anti-tank weapon.) “Our staging training to go overseas was shortened, and we were sent straight to Vietnam [Feb. 12, 1968] because of the Tet Offensive, which was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. It was an attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War.” Don was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 27th Marines 5th Marine Division. “We were the first Marine regiment to fly into combat zone.
During Corporal Roden’s service in Vietnam, he became a “tunnel rat”, an unofficial specialty for volunteers whose job was to clear and destroy enemy tunnel complexes where supplies, weapons and food were often stored and where VC guerrillas could hide underground. Typically, a tunnel rat was equipped with only a pistol, a flashlight, and C4 explosives. Those were dangerous missions because of the many unpredictable ways the VC would use to booby-trap the tunnels.
May 28, 1968 was life-changing for the young Marine. “My platoon did a lot of night patrols north of Da Nang along Highway 1. We all knew that US soldiers in our area were tripping a lot of booby Traps [now known as IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)] while on patrols. On a day patrol, we were heading to a village that had been infiltrated with North Vietnamese soldiers. We knew we were getting close because the jets were dropping Napalm very close to our position. When we were given the go-ahead to move into the hot zone, I was the second to last Marine in our squad walking down a trail. I was carrying two LAWS on my back which made me a soldier the enemy wanted to eliminate. When I stepped on the booby trap, it tossed me 15 feet straight up in the air. I landed flat on my neck and back. The first thing I remember was not being able to move. My left arm was almost severed at my elbow. I felt like I was on fire. The blast had burned my legs. The first thing I asked my buddies was, ‘Do I have both of my legs?’ They assured me I did, but both of my bones below my right knee were compound fractured.
“Our squads had split up earlier in the day, and the medic had gone with the others, so there was no medic with us. I was conscious the whole time. We were getting a lot of fire while I was waiting for a medevac chopper. All I could do was lay there and hope I didn’t get hit again. Finally, the chopper arrived, but it took a couple of attempts to pick me up, due to the heavy ground fire. I was medevacked to a military hospital in DaNang where I was stabilized, then transferred to Tripler General Army Hospital in Hawaii where I underwent surgery. Three months later I was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Corpus Christi. I am still being treated [52 years later] for my injuries
After discharge, Don attended Amarillo College and West Texas State University in Canyon. He went to work for Southwestern Public Service designing power plants. He worked with the same group of people through several mergers and finally retired from Zachry Engineering in 2018 after 41 years and seven months.
“My wife Rosemary and I have been married for 44 wonderful years. She has been very understanding and supportive of me during the health issues I have had from my injuries from Vietnam. We have one daughter Shelly who graduated from Amarillo College and from Texas Tech. She married a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. They have given us three amazing grandkids – Miles, Mason, and Morgan. We spend as much time as we can with them.”
Don Roden is currently the Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 553 and serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Panhandle War Memorial and Education Center in Amarillo. He has served on the Board of Directors for the State of Texas Alzheimer’s Association and has worked with many other charities. He continues to have trouble with his injuries. “Just last year the VA took shrapnel and debris out of my right leg (including a 2” sliver of bamboo). I get injections in my neck and left elbow when needed.”
When Commander Roden was 18, he volunteered for the “toughest branch” in the US military. At 71, he would like today’s 18-year-olds to realize that freedom should not be taken for granted. Two of his best friends were among the nearly 60,000 KIA in Vietnam who paid the ultimate price for it, and Don Roden wants to do everything he can to make sure their sacrifice was not in vain.
