In Vietnam, Green Beret endured attack, major injuries

When Ron Chavez woke up on Nov. 22, 1968, in Japan, it had been 26 days since he had been severely wounded at Bong Son Valley, Vietnam, and left in a coma.

He was one of the elite, the U. S. Army Special Forces known as the Green Berets. He almost didn't make it.

"It was around 10 a.m. on Oct. 28, 1968, when our unit was caught in an ambush," says Chavez, a Raton native. "There were 125 of us. We lost 28 that day. All but one of the Americans there were wounded.

"The enemy had one of our Claymore mines that day, and it exploded on me. I was hit in the neck, hand, right arm, stomach, chest and left thigh, and then, while I was lying on the ground, I was bayoneted in the stomach."