RIP, Ralph R. Trout, Jr.

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By Jeffery L. Trout

(Editor’s note: In honor of Military Appreciation Month and Memorial Day, we share a son’s tribute to his war hero father, a native Quad-Citian, who died May 10.)

We are all products of our environment, victims of circumstance. We can take the lemons that life gives us and make a sour face, or make lemonade. My father, Ralph R. Trout, Jr. made lemonade.

He was the product of the Depression, born to a large and poor family in the Quad-Cities. He knew hunger, he knew homelessness, and in 1952 when he was 17, he took a chance to make lemonade by joining the army. There was a war going on, sorry, a police action, in Korea, but that seemed of little concern to him. So, he volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division, to be an Infantryman, Paratrooper.

During that time in early 1953, he more than once volunteered to go to Korea. His senior NCOs lost his paperwork and told him to wait, his time would come. They had wisdom and vision beyond their years. Another war, another divided country no one had heard of, the Republic of Vietnam was invaded by their communist brothers to the north. By now Ralph was a sergeant first class and had become one of the first 100 members of the 5th Special Forces. President John F. Kennedy presented him with his green beret.

Ralph’s awards during his four tours in Vietnam included four Army Commendation Medals, one for participating in more than 25 aerial missions over hostile territory, three Bronze Stars for heroism, and two Purple Hearts for wounds received in combat. In one example of heroism, an ammunition resupply convoy came under attack as it tried to reach the Special Forces camp at Ben Het in March of 1969. Master Sgt. Trout and his A-team were pinned down in a ditch across the road from a superior force. On his lead, they attacked across the road, into enemy fire. This action saved many American lives.

Although 20-plus years in the Army shaped my dad as a person, he is more than that. People who knew him after our family relocated to the Quad-Cities couldn’t believe that that guy had been the “Real Rambo”! They would have guessed standup comedian. The greatest gift he gave to me is my sense of humor. As an Army officer, I found, like he did that a good joke or comment, placed at the right moment, can have an impact on an otherwise desperate situation.

He used his management skills to become a foreman at International Harvester’s East Moline Plant. He worked at the Rock Island Arsenal before he finally retired for good. He touched the people he worked with just like he did with his lifelong friends in the Army. One of them, Maj. Santos Tenorio, 5th Special Forces, retired, recalls him as a “quiet professional” at the “tip of the spear.”

He provided his wife and children with a better life than he had. He once told me that he was going to leave me with more than his father left him. His father left him 48 states and he was going to leave me 50. An old joke, but a good one.

So, dad, thanks for all you did for me and where it has gotten me. You set the example for me, and I hope to leave a mark on this world as indelible as you have.

Jeffery L. Trout, Meadow Vista, Calif.