Paul D. Aguirre
Paul Aguirre joined the U.S. Marine Corps in June of 1969. After completing Basic Training he was temporarily assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
In December of 1969, Aguirre and others in his unit were offered an extended two-week leave, if they agreed to ship out to Vietnam following Christmas. Aguirre accepted the offer and after spending the holiday with his family, he deployed to Vietnam in February 1970.
On January 30, 1971, while assigned to Echo 2/5, Cpl Aguirre’s platoon had just left the base on patrol with the mission to secure a couple of hill tops. Because he was short, Aguirre had several other Marines in front of him. While the six other Marines passed down trail, Aguirre tripped a booby trap, releasing the trip wire. The next thing Cpl. Aguirre knew he was in the chopper to Da Nang.
It wasn’t the only harrowing incident in which Aguirre was involved. He recalled another incident when he was a squad leader and he was out on a platoon patrol. Aguirre said, “We were passing through a banana grove. I had the right side and my job was to make sure everything was clear. Another member of our patrol stepped on a booby trap. As soon as he heard a click he stopped. As the squad leader it was my job to make sure everyone came back safe, so I moved others as back far as possible. Then, I moved in and we untied his boot laces. I put a two flak jackets around this leg and pulled him out. Fortunately, we all came out okay.”
Asked years later to reflect on what service means to him, Aguirre said, “It meant a lot. I grew up a lot while in Vietnam. I was a young kid when I left but I grew up. We thought about life and death a lot, and it cleared a lot of things up. You don’t take things for granted and you gain a deeper perspective for things.”
During his service, along with his Purple Heart, Cpl Aguirre was awarded the Vietnam Campaign Medal, Bronze Star, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. Years after the war, when Aguirre was applying for disability benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs, he was provided with the report below from his squad leader, 1st Lt D. P. Russell 111 {the 3rd}. Company E, 2nd Battalion 5dth Marines, who described his valiant service.
Today, Aguirre stays in touch with Marines that he went through boot camp and Vietnam with, calling them his “Combat Veterans & Brothers” for life. He also remains committed to serving his fellow veterans, through his involvement with the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and the Military Order of the Purple Heart San Diego Chapter 49. He lets them know that “while they may have served in different wars, they are the same soldier. We may have fought different battles but we went through the same things. The heart aches, the things we’ve seen that the public doesn’t know or understand. The things we did, because it was war, that needed to be done. It’s all the same feelings but we were just in a different place, and it’s ok to ask for help.”
