Page 95 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2025 - Online Magazine

army | vietnam

reading meters, and so on. I was sent to Victoria and then
to Goliad, where I retired after 20 years.”

After Johnny retired, he started his own electrical
business, Rodriguez and Sons. After five years and a
divorce, he moved back to San Antonio and worked for
a government contractor at various military bases. He
moved to Kerrville in 1995 and opened Kerr County
Electric. In 2005, he moved back to San Antonio, and in
2021, he moved to Lubbock and married Janie, whom
he’d known for many years.

Johnny was able to go on the Texas South Plains Honor
Flight in 2023. “My favorite memorial was the Korean
War, but (understandably) the Vietnam Wall was a real
tearjerker.”

Johnny is glad he was able to serve his country. Even
was heavy and would sink into the ground. Later, we got though the war in Vietnam remains a subject of intense
an M102 which was a light, towable 105mm howitzer. debate, men and women like Johnny Rodriguez who are
We were constantly taking incoming rounds. You could willing to risk their lives on behalf of others deserve our
hear the swooshing sound of an incoming rocket. We highest respect.
had a bunker right by our gun which we could jump into
during an attack. We stayed there about two months.”

“The unit moved to another fire support base called
‘Mole City,’ only three clicks (a little over 3000 yards)
from Cambodia. Just two days before we got there,
the infantry had been overrun by the Viet Cong. They Kincaid Roofing
lost a lot of men, around 65. We stayed there for two
months. Our time there was just crazy. We had some
minor shrapnel wounds, but no casualties. We moved to Proudly Salutes
another fire support base for two weeks and then went
back to the base camp at Tay Ninh. There I was the Non- our Veterans
commissioned Officer In Charge of the rear area which
consisted of the motor pool, ammo, and all support
personnel. We were still taking fire from the Viet Cong.
They also had some Chinese troops fighting against us.

“When I got ‘short’ (less than 30 days in-country), I was
sent to ‘light duty.’ We played a lot of poker. When I
got close to leaving Nam, I could not lose. I came back
with $1100 in winnings!” At the end of his tour, Johnny
was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service from
November ’68 to November ’69. He flew out of Saigon to
Clark AFB in the Philippines, then to Fort Ord, CA where
he was discharged on November 6, 1969.

“I went back to San Antonio and was hired by Central
Power and Light as a serviceman—climbing poles,

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