Old Glory and Crossed Rifles

They Just Fade Away .....

Lieutenant Colonel José LeRoy Chacón, United States Army (Retired)
Born December 17, 1931 - Died March 3, 2006

    

As a Cadet circa 1950 and at 50th reunion 54 yrs later!

José LeRoy Chacón was born at Peñasco New Mexico on 17 December 1931 to Emilia Martinez y Griego and Gregorio Chacón y Baca and is a great-grandchild of the legendary Civil War hero Major Rafaél Chacón y López who commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Valverde, south of Socorro, New Mexico in 1861.

He graduated from Peñasco High School, in 1949 and was appointed to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York in 1950 following his elder brother, José Andrés, USMA '51. A third brother Gregório was in the class of 1956.

On graduation he went in the Infantry and attended the Basic Infantry Officers Course, the Airborne Course, the Jump Master Course, and the Ranger Course at Ft. Benning. He came home to Peñasco and married Flora Mascarenas.

He was then assigned to Headquarters, 8th Infantry Division from 1956 to 1958 and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal on completion of that tour.

He served on the United States Army Infantry Board from 1961 to 1963 and at United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). On completion of his first Nam tour he was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal /v and the Meritorious Medal.

His next assignment was as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Marmion Military Academy in Aurora, Illinois and he earned a second Army Commendation Medal.

In 1968 he attended the Command and General Staff Course at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. His next assignment was to U.S. Army School for the Americas, Fort Gullick, Panama. Omar Torijos was one of his students there. He then attended the Defense Language Institute to learn Vietnemese, and then back to MACV for a second tour in Vietnam until 1972. He was awarded the Legion of Merit on completion of that assignment and a second Bronze Star Medal.

His assignments, in reverse order, were:

July 72 thru retirement in April 1976- Lieutenant Colonel, US Army assigned as Operations Officer, Office of the Army Inspector General, HQ, Fifth US Army, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, responsible for inspection plans, evaluation criteria, scheduling and coordinating annual general inspections of over 3000 Army National Guard, US Army Reserve, and Regular Army units in the 13 state Fifth US Army area.

Aug 72 - May 74 - Inspector General, Fifth US Army. Conducted Annual General Inspections of National Guard, Reserve, and Regular Army units in the Fifth Army area. Also served as escort and interpreter for high ranking Latin American military officers and their wives on tours of the United States. Included among these officers was a former Chief of Staff of the Mexican Army.

Oct 71 - July 72 - Deputy Chief of the Joint Liaison Group, Military Assistance Command, South Vietnam. Responsible for liaison on operational as well as logistical matters between US and Vietnamese forces. Had Army, Navy and Air Force officers under his direct supervision. Jose Chacon speaks fluent Vietnamese and was invited as guest lecturer (in Vietnamese) to the Vietnamese Armed Forces Command and General Staff College. Had daily contact with US and Vietnamese General officers and had met either officially or socially almost all general officers in the Vietnamese Armed Forces.

July 71 - Oct 71 - Project Officer, Army Concept Team in Vietnam. Prepared plans and studied research and development projects of combat equipment and activities in Vietnam.

July 68 - Aug 70 - Director and Instructor of the Command and Staff Department of the US Army School of the Americas in the Panama Canal Zone. Responsible for teaching, in the Spanish language, a 40-week Command and General Staff course to high-ranking military officers from Latin America. Students under Jose Chacon later became presidents of two Latin American countries. Frequently served as escort and interpreter for high-ranking military and civilian officials visiting the Panama Canal Zone.

Oct. 64 - Jul 67 - Professor of Military Science and ROTC Instructor, Marmion Military Academy, Aurora, Illinois.

Sept 63 - Sept 64 - Served as advisor to a Vietnamese Infantry Battalion in combat and to a training center training South Vietnamese forces for infantry combat.

Feb 57 - Aug 60 - Company Commander, Executive Officer, Weapons Platoon Leader, and Platoon Leader of Company A, 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division in the US and Germany.

Oct 56 - Feb 57 - Director of Instruction and Assistant Commandant of the 8th Infantry Division, Ft. Carson, Colorado.

April 55 - Oct 56 - Platoon Leader and Exective Officer of Company F, 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, Ft. Carson, Colorado. Served as escort and interpreter for several high-ranking military officers from Spain and of several groups from Latin America.

His Military Education was:
Jun 50 - Jun 54 - United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. Bachelor of Science degree.

Aug 54 - Apr 55 - US Army Infantry School, Ft. Benning Georgia. Infantry Officers Basic Course, Airborne Course, Jumpmaster Course, and Ranger Course. Responsible for interpretation of course material to Spanish speaking students concurrent with his own studies.

Aug 67 - May 68 - US Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

July 70 - Jun 71 - Defense Language Institute. Vietnamese Language. (Honor graduate)

He went into the real estate business in San Antonio, TX, as a a broker and in the course of the last three decades had obtained a number of rental properties, which he owned and managed.

On March 3, 2006 he was apparently strangled to death by two brothers on whom he had served a second eviction notice for failure to pay rent. They owed $3,500.00 in rent. They apparently lured him under some pretense and then murdered him in the house by knocking him out with a baseball bat and then strangling him with a rope.

Survivors are his wife Flora; sons David, Larry, and Joe and daughters Teresa, Patty, and Mona. Grandchildren surviving are Adam, Mike, Mattie, Zoey, Ryan and Scott. Also surviving are his brothers Jose Andres, Mardoqueo, Gregorio, and Pedro and their respective families.

Infantry, Queen of Battle!

I am the Infantry, Queen of Battle! For two centuries I have kept our Nation safe, Purchasing freedom with my blood. To tyrants, I am the day of reckoning; to the suppressed, the hope for the future. Where the fighting is thick, there am I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

I was there from the beginning, meeting the enemy face to face, will to will. My bleeding feet stained the snow at Valley Forge; my frozen hands pulled Washington across the Delaware. At Yorktown, the sunlight glinted from the sword and I, begrimed... saw a Nation born. Hardship... and glory I have known. At New Orleans, I fought beyond the hostile hour, showed the fury of my long rifle... and came of age. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

Westward I pushed with wagon trains... moved an empire across the plains... extended freedom's borders and tamed the wild frontier. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

I was with Scott at Vera Cruz... hunted the guerrilla in the mountain passes... and scaled the high plateau. The fighting was done when I ended my march many miles from the old Alamo. FOLLOW ME!

From Bull Run to Appomattox, I fought and bled. Both Blue and Gray were my colors then. Two masters I served and united them strong... proved that this nation could right a wrong... and long endure. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

I led the charge up San Juan Hill... scaled the walls of old Tientsin... and stalked the Moro in the steaming jungle still... always the vanguard, I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

At Chateau Thierry, first over the top, then I stood like a rock on the Marne. It was I who cracked the Hindenburg Line... in the Argonne, I broke the Kaiser's spine... and didn't come back 'till it was "over, over there." I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

A generation older at Bataan, I briefly bowed, but then I vowed to return. Assaulted the African shore... learned my lesson the hard way in the desert sands... pressed my buttons into the beach at Anzio... and bounced into Rome with determination and resolve. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

The English channel, stout beach defenses and the hedgerows could not hold me...I broke out at St. Lo, unbent the Bulge... vaulted the Rhine... and swarmed the Heartland. Hitler's dream and the Third Reich were dead. I an the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

In the Pacific, from island to island I hopped... hit the beaches and chopped through swamp and jungle... I set the Rising Sun. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

In Korea, I gathered my strength around Pusan... swept across the frozen Han... outflanked the Reds at Inchon... and marched to the Yalu. Withdrew in the face of Chinese hoards in winter's deep freeze and stabilized the line at the 38th guaranteeing freedom's ring to South Korea. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

In Vietnam, while others turned aside, I fought the longest fight, from the Central Highlands to the South China Sea I patrolled the jungle, the paddies and the sky in the bitter test that belongs to the Infantry. FOLLOW ME!

Around the world, I stand... ever forward. Over Lebanon's sands, my rifle steady aimed... and calm returned. At Berlin's gates, I scorned the Wall of Shame. I spanned the Caribbean in freedom's cause, answered humanity's call. I trod the streets of Santo Domingo to protect the innocent. In Grenada, I jumped at Salinas, and proclaimed freedom for all. My arms set a Panamanian dictator to flight and once more raised democracy's flag, In the Persian Gulf, I drew the line in the desert, called the tyrant's bluff and restored right and freedom in 100 hours. Duty called, I answered. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

My bayonet... on the wings of power... keeps the peace worldwide. And despots, falsely garbed in freedom's mantle, falter... hide. My ally in the paddies and the forest...I teach, I aid, I lead. FOLLOW ME!

Where brave men fight... there fight I. In freedom's cause... I live, I die. From Concord Bridge to Heartbreak Ridge, from the Arctic to the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam, to the Caribbean... and onward to the Pursian Gulf... the Queen of Battle!

Always ready... then, now, and forever.

~ I am the Queen of Battle ~
~ I am the Infantry ~
~ FOLLOW ME! ~

Revised: 06/18/2006

Click for Chacon Roots | Click For Jump Videos | Click USMA54 Briefing

Click for Combat Uniform  | Click for Surprise | Click Love of animals 

Duty, Honor, Country |  LeRoy's Funeral c/o Michael Chacon

Click for Son's Commentary  Click for Son's Day of Infamy article 

Click for Guilty plea article 

Click on the Black, Gold, Gray bar to return to Top of Page

E-       For Webmaster