IN MEMORY HONOR ROLL

Ronald Eugene Baxter grew up in the Iowa town of Charles City. He had one brother and his father died when he was 5, due to leukemia. Ron was raised by his mom and close family and had a great love of the country. W hen the Vietnam draft was sure to get him, he enlisted in the Navy and went to San Diego for basic training. From there, he went to Subic Bay and was on two large vessels during the almost three years of duty from 1969 to 1971. His favorite was the USS Mt. McKinley.

Ron served in the brown water Navy on a swift boat patrolling the inland rivers of Vietnam supplying the troops. This is where he was exposed to Agent Orange which was used to defoliate trees and shrubs along those waterways.

He started to have symptoms of altered gait, not swinging his left arm when he walked in 2010 soon after he retired. He was diagnosed with Multiple Symptoms Atrophy Parkinson's at Mayo. He had a long ten-year illness, the last two years being the worst. This is an autonomic disorder affecting blood pressure, inability to sweat, and much neuropathy pain in extremities. The worst he suffered was he felt like he was' walking in a puddle of water and water running out of his neck. This truly, was a form of torture.

He had many stories to tell about what he experienced, but the one thing that got me was the ship was short of water and they could only brush their teeth and wash their hands before eating and put on their dirtiest, cleanest clothes for a month. As his wife, I knew he had to really smell. I asked him in his last days, if he regretted going to Nam and he said he would do it all again. He was proud to have served. He was a great man and my hero. He died July 22, 2010. The year that kept on giving, right? I would very much like him to be recognized for his service.