Veteran salute: From the Sunflower state to combat overseas

LEBO, KS (KSNT) – Dennis Mendoza was born and raised in Emporia, Kansas. A year after graduating from Emporia High, he got a call from Uncle Sam.

Taking his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, Mendoza was one of 16 who didn’t get orders. In that moment, he knew where he was going.

“So, the sergeant came out and he said you guys are the lucky ones, you’re going to get to go home for 30 days,” Mendoza said. “And that was the leave they gave the veterans going to Vietnam.”

Not knowing what was in store for his future, he said goodbye to his family. After flying into Oakland, California, he picked up his weapons, trained for guerrilla warfare, and it was off to Vietnam, where he served as a Specialist E4 in the Army.

“We went through hell up there, but we also knew how to try to keep our minds together so we wouldn’t get emotionally, how should I say, not get depressed about what we seen, what we were doing,” Mendoza said.

After being in Vietnam for a year, Mendoza came back to the states where he was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

“That was fun. I enjoyed that part, Mendoza said. I was assigned to a medical battalion because they didn’t have anywhere else to put me. So I was assigned there for three months while the remaining of my enlistment.”

After completing two years of active service and four years of inactive service, Mendoza still finds a way to give back to veterans, acting as an officer with the American Legion in Lebo.

“We do the military service for anyone who comes to us,” Mendoza said. “We’ve gone to a lot of small towns, we do the folding of the flag, present it to the immediate family, we do the playing of the taps.”

If there’s any advice Mendoza has for veterans he says to use the VA, because they’re there to help.

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