He also had an opportunity to photograph President John F. Kennedy at Checkpoint Charlie as the Berlin Wall was being constructed during the president’s historic June 1963 trip to Berlin where he declared his support of the German people by stating, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Gast was also photographed standing behind the president holding his camera.
What he did: After leaving Berlin in 1966, Gast traveled to Denver with his growing family that now included a young daughter, Annette. He retrained as a military medical equipment repairman and was eventually sent to Fort Knox where he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne 3rd Brigade field hospital. In 1968, he left for Vietnam.
“I was an old man at 26,” said Gast, who became a combat photographer after four months. “Most of them were young 18-year-old kids.”
Gast recalls being ambushed while driving a jeep to Saigon from Phu Loi. The four occupants jumped out and returned fire. Although the jeep had hundreds of bullet holes, miraculously none of the soldiers were hurt and the jeep was still able to limp back to Saigon.
It was during the remainder of his tour as a combat photographer that Gast learned what it was to lose friends to enemy gunfire as he traveled to dangerous combat zones in South Vietnam and Cambodia. Seeing friends dying in the field left Gast stunned. With little hope of surviving, one friend blew himself up with a hand grenade after losing two legs and an arm in an attack in the jungle.
“It’s a whole different world and your attitudes definitely change in a combat zone,” said Gast. “You don’t know if you’re going to survive to the next day. I came so close to being killed so many times, I’d given up any concerns of getting home. I just worried about what my family would do without me.”
What was the most satisfying thing about your role? "Serving my country and having an opportunity to travel."
How long have you been involved? "I spent nine and a half years in the military and later worked for DESI and as a civilian at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base until I retired in 2001."
Why is Ronald Gast a hero to you? "My husband is a hero, because he left his family and home to serve his country and never asked for anything in return," said Hilda Gast.
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