Operation Allen Brook. F-4 Phantom releasing ordanace on an enemy position firing upon Oakes' unit

Operation Allen Brook. The patrol is receiving automatic weapons fire from the tree line in the background.

Oakes' superiors and Iraqi commanding general with assistant at a dinner at FOB Q-West in September 2005

After returning from Vietnam in 1969, Ron Oakes married, earned a degree in electronics and traveled around the Midwest working. Eventually, he and his family moved back to Michigan, where Oakes joined the National Guard. As part of the Guard, Oakes…

Ron Oakes was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in March 1949. After briefly attending junior college, he enlisted in June 1967 and received training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot and Camp Pendleton, California. He then received instruction in the…

Oakes standing in front of a Blackhawk helicopter.

Oakes spent the last 30 days in county as the NCOIC in charge of the transit tent of B Co 1/4 Marines Dong Ha (rear area).

Oakes resting after going from Camp Doung Son to a platoon patrol base in August 1968. Oakes had collapsed from heat exhaustion due to the intense heat.

Oakes preparing to go on a night patrol in March / April 1968 from Camp Dong Son.

Oakes at Camp Hansen, Okinawa on his way home from Vietnam, April 1969.

Oakes at a refueling stop in Iceland on the way to Kuwait, the day after Thanksgiving 2004.

Oakes and three other soldiers acting as an escort for a Chinese couple in Chinatown, San Francisco.