Paul Rodriguez
Bio
Paul Rodriguez served in the United States Army during the Korean War. One of his first experiences of war was seeing lifeless American soldiers. He defended the area of Kumhwa Valley on the eastern edge of the Iron Triangle. Paul Rodriguez quickly raised through the ranks and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. He lost several friends in protecting the sovereignty of South Korea. He became a successful beet farmer and has twice survived caner. He also played an instrumental role in the creation of the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Park in Cody, Wyoming.
Video Clips
Paul Rodriguez Lost a Friend in the War
Paul Rodriguez described developing a friendship with three other men during basic training. He lost contact with them after being deployed to Korea. One of them became his best man at his wedding. He tried to reconnect with the other two men thirty years later. He discovered one of them died only one month after being sent to Korea. He regretted not attempting to connect with the family until after so many years had passed.
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Paul Rodriguez Lost Friend to an Anti-Tank Mine
Paul Rodriguez was assigned to help remove anti-tank mines in the Kumhwa Valley. They would use a tank equipped with a bulldozer blade to push the mines out of the way. While he was working on one side of the tank, a mine blew up on the other side. He discovered one of his friends had been killed in the explosion.
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Paul Rodriguez Guarded His Position and Got Frostbite
Paul Rodriquez related the battle where he saw the most action. The Chinese made a surprise attack in the middle of the night. He was a rifleman and rotated time between the foxholes and bunker. He states his forces were able to win because of overwhelming firepower but had to continue to serve in nine day rotations to guard their position. During that time, he got frostbit toes and continued to suffer from the effects of frostbite the rest of his life.
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Paul Rodriguez Formed the Wyoming State Korean War Veteran State Chapter and Dedicated a Memorial
Paul Rodriguez attempted to form a local Korean War Veterans chapter but could not find the required twelve veterans. He joined the national chapter instead. He later created a state chapter and raised funds to build a memorial to create the Wyoming Veteran Memorial Park in Cody, Wyoming. The memorial statue was designed by his son.
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