“ We try to grow from them ”: the mayor marks the Vietnam War for the first time

Athens, ala. (WHNT) – A woven thread throughout the life of Ronnie Marks is the service: being the mayor of Athens, teaching in West Limetone and helping families in the Human Resources Department.

“By going back to it, I really decided that there was not many better things to do in life than to serve others,” said Marks.

But he said that his heart was really used to train when he was drafted in the army for the Vietnam War.

“They needed leadership, and they needed people at this age. And I was 24, writing with a bunch of children,” said Marks.

Even after 50 years, it is difficult for Marks to remove the photos and the cards and to recall what he and the other soldiers endured during the war. It is a moment of his life that he does not raise frequently and does not like to speak at length.

“There have been heavy fights in a part of this area here. This is one of those things you are just in a way,” said Marks. “You walk in the jungle or the forest where you could not see barely 20 or 30 meters in front of you, it was raining so hard. So, a difficult experience when looking at it, but an experience that, looking at your life, it fits.”

Marks served Vietnam for 11 months and one day, winning a bronze star and a combat infantry badge, among other honors. He then served in the Alabama National Guard for ten years, taking the lessons that his deployment taught him.

“Vietnam proved to me that none of us should be much better or at a much higher level than anyone,” said Marks. “Our mission was to accomplish a mission and bring them home to their loved ones.”

While Ronnie marks his fourth mandate as mayor of Athens, he has the importance of collaboration and service with him, while remembering the people, places and paths that led him here.

“I lost a very good friend a few weeks ago against Orange agent, and he was with me every night for probably 11 months, just with us. So, just, just difficult and difficult situations. It is, you know, and we simply live things and we try to grow from them.”

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