November 2nd, 2020
Sergeant Fabian Eloy Rios Jr., U.S. Army veteran, Vietnam War
Sergeant Fabian Eloy Rios Jr., a U.S. Army veteran, was called to service during the Vietnam War. It would go without saying that any veteran, regardless of their branch or what era they served in, possesses a strong sense of devotion to their nation. This is something that was evident with Sergeant Rios, who continued to stand for his country’s flag even when the toll of his illness made it physically unbearable to do so. In 1967, he was drafted and called to service, and trained for three short weeks in Fort Polk, LA, before getting sent off to Chu Lai and then trekking into the heart of Vietnam. Despite being stricken by fear and uncertainty, he accepted his responsibility to answer his nation’s call, being subjected to the trials and tribulations of being a soldier during his years of deployment. He toiled through the dense jungles of Vietnam, and survived the Tet Offensive, returning home in 1969 to a changed nation. Sergeant Rios knew that freedom isn’t free; it comes at the expense of the sacrifice and perseverance of those who see it a worthy endeavor to defend it. Even after experiencing the tragedy of war, he always expressed that he would gladly do it all again, because there was nothing that he wouldn’t do for his country.
