RONALD RILEY
Ronald Riley | Vietnam Infantry Officer | Purple Heart + DSC | “Tell the Truth”
Ronald (Ron) Riley served in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1965 to 1969. He was medically retired after 4 years due to bullet wounds. He served a little over a year in South Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division and retired at the rank of Captain.
Why he joined
Ron grew up in South Dakota and described limited “growth opportunities” there. His plan was college, but his family couldn’t afford it—so the military looked like the best route because:
it provided a path to education
it paid you while you went
He credits his high school football coach for helping him connect with the right people and “work things out” so he could pass the tests and get in.
Military path and assignments
Early assignment: 101st Airborne Division (about a year)
Vietnam: sent directly to Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division
served as a First Lieutenant, platoon leader
spent most of that year in the jungle, rarely at base (only brief returns for showers/hot meals)
Wounded in combat: evacuated to Japan for about 3 months of hospitalization
Reassignment (stateside): The Old Guard / 3rd Infantry Regiment (Presidential Honor Guard)
involved with ceremonial missions like burials at Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
he respected it but personally didn’t enjoy the job, calling it a very different environment and a “do what you have to do” assignment
Later duty: Fort Belvoir (Officer Candidate School environment)
he describes training/duty with many drafted and disenchanted candidates, frequent discipline issues (AWOL, courts-martial), and a generally “bad scene” in that era
he tried to steer some into more suitable routes (schools, different branches) when possible
Decorations (as stated in the interview)
Ron says he received:
Purple Heart
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
two Silver Stars
three or four Bronze Stars
Air Medals
(He mentions these quickly, almost downplaying them.)
What he took from service
Two big themes:
1) Discipline becomes automatic
He explains that after years of rigid structure, you don’t “try” to be disciplined—you just are.
2) Civilian transition was hard
He struggled with the lack of order and logic in civilian workflows (especially as an engineer). His coping strategy:
try to understand what others are thinking
if needed, persuade them toward a better process
but accept you can’t “fight people all day”
Civilian career (high level)
He built a long engineering and leadership career:
Exxon Research & Engineering (project engineer; refinery projects globally)
Sun Oil Company (projects / critical path scheduling)
Air Products & Chemicals (Allentown, PA) ~17–18 years (manager of economic development)
Advanced Separation Technologies (Florida) (VP of operations; company sold)
He took pride in developing people and loved internship/co-op style pipelines (work a semester, school a semester), arguing they produce more “practical” graduates.
Advice to young people: military as a rational economic play
Ron’s pitch is bluntly analytical:
college is expensive; debt can follow you for years
the military can get you the education without the same financial burden
ROTC/officer track can make the “payback years” worth it
he specifically argues the military route can be a huge advantage for future doctors (military needs physicians, supports the path, and you can come out with rank + income while peers carry heavy debt)
His caveat: the only way to “lose” is having a bad attitude that poisons everything.
Funny story (G-rated): Airborne School
He tells an Airborne School story about a very small soldier whose parachute had a huge hole. The cadre was yelling for him to pull his reserve, but he drifted down casually, landed safely (because he barely weighed anything), and then got chewed out when they showed him the damage.
Signature message: “Be yourself. Tell the truth.”
When asked what he’d leave for future generations, Ron’s core rule was:
Be yourself
Tell the truth—no matter how bad it is
He says that’s the motto he taught his kids.
Brief combat account: why he received the DSC (as he describes it)
He shares one war story after being asked about medals:
his platoon was surrounded by an estimated ~500 North Vietnamese
he had 34 soldiers; 17 wounded quickly
he called for supporting fires and eventually got “Puff the Magic Dragon” (AC-47 gunship) overhead, which helped them break out
nobody died, but many were wounded
the next morning, while eating peanut butter and crackers, he says a shot hit the food out of his hand
later, he used a bamboo pole to probe the bank near water, confronted an enemy soldier at close range, and more followed—his machine gunner helped finish the fight
He ends it simply: “kind of a long night.”