Equip Oper 3rd Class Ronald Edward Harrison, US Navy
Ronald Edward Harrison was born in Richmond, WV on October 30, 1946 to Patrick and Joyce Harrison. His father served in the US Army during WW II and was captured by the Germans in North Africa, serving the remainder of the war as a POW. In 1959 the family moved to Carlsbad NM, where in 1964 Ronald graduated from Carlsbad Senior High School. He then enrolled at ENMU, attending classes at NMSU Carlsbad in the summer of 1965. Enlisting in the US Navy Reserve, he was called to active duty in July 1967. He was assigned to ”A” Company, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 (Sea Bees). On February 4 1968 the battalion was notified of pending deployment and four days later shipped to Vietnam. Their arrival in country immediately followed the Tet Offensive. The unit’s assignment was in I Corps around Hue. Initially operating out of Phu Bai, “A” Company provided the equipment and operators to handle large earth moving operations. They immediately set about improving Route 1 between Hue and Da Nang to the south. In March, the unit relocated to construct Camp Evans just north of Hue. Camp Evans was to become a strategic base over the course of the war, headquartering the 4th Marine Division, the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne on different occasions.
Construction required extensive amounts of material, all of which had to be shipped in. On May 20, 1968, EO 3rd Class Harrison was driving a five ton truck loaded with construction material from the Bridge 5 Ramp near Hue to Camp Evans. The route required they travel across the An Lo Bridge on the Song Bo River. This bridge was under construction at the time. When attempting to cross, the truck overturned killing Harrison and CN Blakely. His body was recovered and today lies buried in Sunset Gardens Cemetery in Carlsbad NM. EO 3rd Class Ronald Edward Harrison was 21 years of age at the time of his death while serving his nation.