Ronald W. Ballew:
CLASS OF 1959
Central High SchoolClass of 1959
Tulsa, OK
Northeastern Oklahoma A&M CollegeClass of 1962
Miami, OK
McLain High SchoolClass of 1961
Tulsa, OK
Cherokee Elementary SchoolClass of 1956
Tulsa, OK
Sequoyah Elementary SchoolClass of 1952
Tulsa, OK
Ronald W.'s Story
Life
I was able to get a domain named Ballew with the org extension. See my life story there. - Ron
Summary:
41-42 Born in Mangum, OK. My Dad returned to Mangum when he retired.
42-52 Tulsa, OK. Went to Sequoya Elementary School. Attended Christian Church. Memorable Persons: Charles Howard, Myrna Howard, next door neighbors.
52-60 Turley, OK. Attended Turley Church of Christ. The Church at Turley has been closed due to declining membership. My dad put a lot of money into that church over the years. Its assets were sold and the proceeds were divided between the Churches of Christ congregations at Sperry, OK, and Collensville, OK. Many former members of the Turley Church of Christ are now members of those congregations.
I was in the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts while living in Turley. Mom was a Den Mother. I was a member of the Beaver Patrol and the Fox Patrol, Troop 70, Turley, OK, Boy Scouts of America. Highest rank achieved was Scout 1st Class. I guess I am not a Congressman or Astronaut because I didn't make the rank of Eagle Scout.
Glen Robinson was the Fox Patrol Leader and I was the Asst Patrol Leader. We met at my house in the old chicken coop. It was a nice little club house. I won the Troop fire making contest at one Troop meeting that included the Girl Scouts as guests. I remember that Pricilla was there, and so was Phillis Shook.
I dropped out of the Boy Scouts when a new Troop leader refused to give me my perfect attendance pen because his records did not cover the complete year. The Troop also owed me donut money for selling donuts door to door on Saturdays.
Went to Cherokee Elementary School, Cherokee Junior High School, and Tulsa Central High School , Tulsa, OK.
Memorable Persons: Douglas Finch, Dixie Finch, Margie Harvey, Raymond Brown, Mary Ethyl Campbell, Lloyd Melvin Hardesty, Patsy Hardesty (from the Collensville Church of Christ), Shirley Jones, Judy Stiles, Peggy Harper, Phyllis Shook, Susan Smith, Richard Barnett, Diana McDonald, Jackie Kellogg.
Jackie and I used to play marbles after school and Diana picked up the marbles for us after we shot them out of the circle.
Mr. Thorpe was one of my teachers at Cherokee. I remember him because he made me stand up in front of the class and explain where I got the penny packet of koolaid that He caught someone in class eating after I gave it to him.
He didn't catch me eating it in class, but I was the one on trial. The threat was the proverbial swat on the palm with his wooden paddle. This was a month or so after he made me change chairs because he caught me talking to Judy Stiles during class.
60-62 Miami, OK. Attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College (NEO) Went to the Miami Church of Christ. Memorable Persons: Veda Grigsby, Margie Fields, Kathy Farney, Gwen, Mary, Sharon Hoover, Ruth Ann Shaffer, Larry Brown, Evelyn Campbell, and Mr. Swanson - NEO Band Director.
62-65 Stillwater, OK. Attended Oklahoma State University (OSU) Went to the Stillwater Church of Christ. Memorable Persons: Phil Givens, Madeline Heimer, and Bonnie from Willow, OK. Willow is just north of Mangum.
65-67 Las Vegas, Nevada. Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on graduation. Left US Air Force as Captain. Last assignment was in Viet Nam. When in Vegas I would sleep from 5-10 and go out on the town till 2. Memorable persons: 1LT Donna Laird, daughter of Charles Laird, Tampa, Florida.
66-66 Bueno Vista, Arizona. Six months TDY with Project Cloud Gap under the US Army and the US Disarmament Agency. Conducted exercises to determine the best way to detect clandisine underground nuclear tests under a nuclear arms test ban treaty. Flew around in helocopters from site to site during the day. One helocopter crashed killing one member of the other team, and injuring others. I took his place on the team and we soon had the same pilot in the driver's seat. High elevation, early frost.
66-66 Mercury Test Site, Nevada. This was part of the 6 months TDY with Project Cloud Gap. There is a big dry hole in the ground there from the first surface nuclear bomb test. I stood on the edge and looked down. Its ...Expand for more
pretty deep. Supposed to be safe now, HA, HA!
67-68 Saigon and Danang, Republic of South Vietnam. There were lots of big holes in the ground in Vietnam from B-52 bombs. There were also a few big holes around our office at Tan Son Nhat Air Base from Viet Cong Rockets.
I was assigned to an intelligence unit and wore civilian clothes during this tour. I carried a concealed weapon (Smith & Wesson .38 Special) for a year in Vietnam, except during the Tet Offensive in 1968 when I carried a fully automatic M-16 in the open for about 4 weeks.
I carried the M-16 back and forth to work and took it home at night and to the office during the day. The whole city was on alert. We watched the defense of Saigon from the roof of our apartment building at night. The C-47 Dragon Ships would put out a solid stream of fire from their gatling guns. I saw my first Apache helicoper gun ship from the roof of my apartment in Saigon.
Although the fully automatic M-16 would meet the Clinton-Reno Administration definition of an assault rifle, it was not an assault rifle, since I only carried it for self defense. No one shot at me so I never had to shoot back.
I had more freedom and liberty in Vietnam than I do in the United States. At least there I was allowed to arm myself for my self defense from criminals, the Viet Cong (South Vietnamese civilian "freedom fighters" who fought on the side of the North), and the North Vietnamese soldiers.
One soldier told me to remove the clip from my government M-16 once at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, so I took it out to humor him until he was out of sight. I could have shown him my military ID and pulled rank on him, but that would have compromised our role of pretending to be civilian contractors. He did not have a need to know.
There is no longer a North and South Vietnam. It is now just the Republic of Vietnam, unified under the North Vietnamese. The meaning of Tan Son Nhat is: Tan means new; Son means mountain; and Nhat means first or one.
68-70 Tulsa, OK. Once known as the cleanest city in the USA (not now). Raced my car every weekend in Rallys and such with the Tulsa Sportscar Club. Stayed at my Dad's house. He was alone at this time. My brother Richard was still in town but lived in Sand Springs. Memorable Persons: Marvin Woody, Kay Woody, Kendra Woody, neighbors (They found my website in 2004 and sent me email updating me on the last 34 years. Thanks for writing and sharing.)
70-71 New Boston, Texas. The whole police department was fired for beating teenagers with rubber hoses just before I got there. Memorable Persons: Helen Wheeler (Hell on Wheels), Ray Knuth, Jim Livinggood, Larry Brown.
71-72 Saint Louis, MO. Met my wife, Judy Woerther, there. Memorable Persons: Sherry McNeal, Laura Carlson, Barbara (Babs).
72-74 New Cumberland, PA. Lost everything in the 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood. The government had my property in temporary storage in a riverfront warehouse and never thought to check on it or to notify me when the river began to rise. One winter we had 3 feet of snow one night, and 2 feet the next night.
74-77 Zweibruken, Germany. Will never go back. One english channel on TV. My oldest boy, Willie, was born there.
77-78 New Cumberland, PA. Returned to PA after Germany. There is good deer and pheasant hunting in Pensyvannia. Hunted pheasant with Tom Brown near Chambersburg, PA. on weekends.
78-Present Lawton, OK. Lawton is OK, but Tulsa is better. Everyone I graduated high school with that went to college had to leave Tulsa to get a job, including me. Did a lot of TDY during this period and most of my memorable friends are from traveling together on TDY trips. Surviving hard times together creates strong bonds. Memorable Persons: Joe Carr, Bob Anderson, Jimmy Ross, Rose Flood, Charlotte Francis Greene, Chris (Christine) Kilgore.
Update on Jan 2, 2009
After a year on Sick Leave, I returned to part time work on Oct 2, 2008. I go to Dialysis 3 times a week, and it keeps me alive. I feel better now. I added a message to my email signature block at work:
"Remember: You are having fun; and, you are glad to be here!"
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