#VeteranOfTheDay Army Veteran Richard Earl Clark

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Richard Earl Clark. Richard served during the Vietnam War.

In 1968, while attending the pre-medical program at the University of Nebraska Kearney, Richard was drafted into the United States Army. Richard then received basic training and additional training as a medic.

After completing his training, Richard was deployed to Vietnam and was sent to Quang Tri province, 10 miles south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. There, Richard served as a medic for the 5th Mechanized Headquarters, First Brigade.

Richard’s first duty was maintaining the medical records for the headquarters, and later, he was responsible for treating sick and moderately injured soldiers and Vietnamese civilians. In addition to treating wounded soldiers at the 5^th Mechanized Headquarters in Quang Tri, Richard also acted as an interim field medic while others were on leave.

For the final six months of his service, Richard was sent back to the United States, where he served as a medic at Fort Carson, Colorado for the 5^th Mechanized Division. There, he was responsible for monitoring the firing range.

After completing his service, Richard was discharged in 1970 at the rank of specialist 5. Richard earned the Army Combat Medical Badge. In addition, for meritorious service, Richard earned the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal.

After being discharged, Richard worked for six months before taking a test and qualifying as a surgical technician. Richard then spent several years as a surgical technician at the Minden Medical Clinic at Kearney County Health Services.

Thank you for your service, Richard!

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

Veterans History Project

This #VeteranOfTheDay profile was created with interviews submitted to the Veterans History Project. The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Find out more at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.

Graphic by Kimber Garland: Kimber is a junior at Indiana University – Bloomington studying International Studies and Korean.