ROCHELLE — Ron Sondgeroth of Rochelle served in the United States Army from 1966-1968. He served in an artillery division in Vietnam on a two-year tour. 

Sondgeroth enlisted into the service in August 1966 after figuring his draft number was going to be called soon. He went to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training before going to Fort Sill in Oklahoma for artillery training. Sondgeroth then spent time in a nuclear weapons assembly course before going to Fort Riley in Kansas, where he found out that in a few days, his whole division was heading to Vietnam. 

Sondgeroth’s division departed for Vietnam two days later on a ship. He encountered “claustrophobic” conditions of bunks stacked six high on the voyage. Upon arrival in Vietnam, Sondgeroth started off in artillery and hauled ammunition. Shortly after that he moved to a different artillery division. 

That division moved across the country “all the time” and was airlifted and dropped into the jungle. 

“For the rest of my time over there, it was difficult to say the least,” Sondgeroth said. “There were days when sometimes the conditions were worse than war. There would be four or five days at a time where I'd never take my boots off. We didn't have a tent. I never had a hot shower for a year. If there was shower water, if you didn't get there early in the day it was gone by the time you got there. It was just cold water over a gravity shower. When we were getting moved around, you always had to fill sandbags to shore up your position. If you were only there for a week, as soon as you got ready to leave you'd dump all the sandbags and then move on and start the process all over again. Sleep deprivation was a big thing too, because you always had to be ready.”

Sondgeroth finished his time in the the Army in 1968 and returned home. 

“I never considered any other branch besides the Army,” Sondgeroth said. “I just wanted to go in and do my service. I wasn't looking to be a hero. I was just doing my share.”

Sondgeroth was raised on his family’s farm in West Brooklyn, about 20 miles from Rochelle. He was one of 13 children. He was 19 years old when he left for Vietnam. 

“You could say I was green,” Sondgeroth said. “My family didn't go out in public a lot. I probably went to a restaurant once in my life before my service. I knew what was going on there and that people were being called up for this duty. I felt my obligation to fulfill my duty. I just decided to get right into it.”

The longtime area resident found truth in the “War is Hell” saying during his experience in Vietnam. Sondgeroth believes his service taught him to keep going and do what he was supposed to do. He learned to do his job and not hide from it. 

After the service, Sondgeroth went to work at Caterpillar for a short time before going to work at parks for the state. He worked at Shabbona State Park when it first became a park. He then decided to go into business on his own and did painting work locally for 35 years. 

Sondgeroth spends his free time woodworking, and has made American flags and donated them to veterans organizations such as the Rochelle VFW Post and the VA clinic in Rockford. He also makes chess boards and bowls and gives them away locally. Last Christmas, he made and gave 60 bowls to people that help at the VA. 

“One bowl has 81 pieces of wood in it,” Sondgeroth said. “I give them away to strangers all the time. I enjoy doing it. I make the flags because of my service. When I look back on my pictures from my service, there's always a flag in the background. I'm all about being a patriot. Making the flags and donating them is a part of that.”

Upon returning from war, Sondgeroth found what many other Vietnam veterans did with anti-war sentiment out in public. He didn’t often tell people that he served, and also encountered effects of post-traumatic stress disorder from his service. 

“Today, I like to see Vietnam veterans getting respect,” Sondgeroth said. “I have an Army hat and a Vietnam veteran hat that I wear now. I enjoy the thank yous I get from people.”

Honoring Our American Hero is a series that will print twice a month in the News-Leader. If you know an American Hero you would like to have featured, contact Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@rochellenews-leader.com or call 815-561-2151.