Serving His Country is a Way of Life for Leon MeyerBy Mary Lynn Heath
Leon Meyer didn’t just fight in Vietnam. He didn’t just serve in the military. He lived military throughout his life and in many ways, he still is.
The military is where he found his bride Alice, a pediatric nurse practitioner who served in the Army and the Air Force for a total of 20 years. They married while stationed in Germany. They raised two daughters, Amanda and Ashley who both graduated from Piedmont High School.
After 23 years in the Air Force, Leon, a Master Sergeant and Bronze Star recipient retired in 1991. “I miss it a lot,” he says with misty blue eyes. “There is nothing like the camaraderie of military friends and co-workers. You’re all away from home, usually in a place you’d rather not be. You keep these friends your whole life.”
During the Vietnam War Leon was stationed in Thailand where he handled the munitions logistics for the 57 B-52 Bombers assigned to U-Tapao Air Force Base. General flying for his wing was 39 aircraft missions, also called “sorties”, daily. Each of these aircraft was capable of carrying 108, MK82, 500 pound bombs. Approximately 90,000 bombs a month were dropped by the B-52’s from U-Tapao. Leon was honored with the Bronze Star during Vietnam for “direct support of an air operation against the opposing enemy force.” He adds that the Thai people were supportive of the Americans during the Vietnam War effort.
He encouraged his daughter, Amanda, to go to Oklahoma State University on an ROTC scholarship. Graduated with a degree in psychology, she is now a Lieutenant in the Air Force at Vance, AFB in Enid and married to a pilot. His new son-in-law, Marc Finnegan,will soon deploy to Afghanistan for six months on a reconnaissance air craft.
Leon’s close military friends, an unexpected tourist stop and an inspiring conversation with his father led him to seek out a replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall for Piedmont. “I’d visited a replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Arkansas one day when I was passing through,” he recalls. “It affected me deeply, in a way I wasn’t expecting. I was caught completely off-guard.”
That day Leon found a friend from his home town of Orchard, Nebraska on the wall. He also found some of the pilots he knew who flew the planes he helped load at Udorn and U-Tapao Air Force bases. He says it was quite a solemn and emotional experience for him. Indeed, he broke down more than once.
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His dad was also instrumental in inspiring Leon to organize a group to get the Dignity Memorial® Vietnam Wall to Piedmont. “I was talking with dad one day on the phone. He said they had a Vietnam Memorial Wall replica in his town of
Verdigre, Nebraska and that the cars were so backed up to visit it you couldn’t even get into town! I thought, wouldn’t that be great if we could do that in Piedmont?”
Leon, now the owner of Overland Express Realty in Piedmont since 1997, says he knew it would take the effort of the entire town to make the Dignity Memorial® Vietnam Wall a success. Leon says Piedmont will need everyone available who can volunteer for the event to volunteer. “We’ll need people for ceremonies, to pass out water bottles, to give directions – just to represent our town and make others feel welcomed. This is an excellent opportunity to put Piedmont in the spotlight and to accent the positives of our community.”
Leon says many people deserve so much thanks, thus far, for pulling this endeavor together that he can’t possibly name everyone because he would leave someone out. He adds that many, many more will deserve gratitude when it’s complete. “We must pull together as a community to make this a successful event, and to give it the respect it needs,” he says.
Leon hopes when citizens and visitors come to the Dignity Memorial® Vietnam Wall in Piedmont over the 4th of July holiday weekend that they remember: The sacrifice so many people made for other people’s freedom.
Note: To volunteer to help host the Dignity Memorial® Vietnam Wall during the 4th of July weekend please contact Brooke Kuns: brookek@piedmont-ok.gov at Piedmont City Hall at 373-2621. For updates on The Dignity Memorial® Vietnam Wall visit our Piedmont community website: www.piedmontok.org