TYLER (KYTX) - It's known as the Forgotten War. But one Tyler veteran wants to make sure people remember the sacrifices made by men and women who served during the Korean War. Henry McRuiz is an East Texas Hero and the focus of a KYTX CBS19 special report.
"I volunteered because we were at war and I wanted to be a good patriot," McRuiz told us.
Henry McRuiz was 19 when the Korean War started and in this Tyler native's family there was a legacy of military service. He said, "I felt like I wanted to serve and defend our nation and I had three brothers in WWII."
McRuiz joined the Air Force in December 1950 and took his training at Lackland Air Force Base then continued his training in Denver. He trained in supply management and Uncle Sam sent him to Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was a vital training area for pilots headed to fight in Korea. There they learned how to take off and land on aircraft carriers and how to pilot high tech planes.
McRuiz's job was to keep track of and distribute medical supplies, tools, even uniforms for those serving overseas. It's a job he was glad to do even though he was never sent abroad himself. He says in this Forgotten War many of the men and women who didn't see combat are forgotten too. "They say that for every man in a combat zone it takes 10 people outside that area to keep them on the front lines," McRuiz says.
An injury on base ended McRuiz's service and he was honorably discharged in 1953. While he keeps the nature of his injury private he struggles with back pain to this day. But McRuiz is proud of his service and loves his country. And he wants all Americans to remember those who paid the ultimate price to protect it. He said, "during the Korean War they didn't consider that a big war or anything but we lost 54,000 American soldiers."
Those are soldiers this East Texas Hero supported from half a world away and still holds close to his heart.
