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Russell Babcock served in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1973 and then re-enlisted in 1987 when he was 45 years old. This photo compilation shows the uniforms he wore.

Double duty
Last Updated: March 01, 2018

Local veteran releases book to tell life story

Russell Babcock ate bear meat, lived in a tent in the wilderness and received three Purple Hearts.

And he's telling all about it in a book he wrote with Valley Center author Glen Sharp. "Twice a Soldier" was released last year.

Babcock's life is a series of stories.

Babcock, a Park City resident and U.S. Army veteran, was born in 1942 in Wenatchee, Wash., the first of three children. He lived with his mother in Delta, Colo., until 1946 when they regrouped with his father in Helena, Mont. Babcock's father was a construction worker and he recalls living in the wilderness in tents while his father's crew built a bridge.

"We had an old icebox," Babcock said. "There was a brown bear that was in the area and we'd get up early in the morning and the icebox would be open; we'd follow the trail, picking up the butter and whatever else was left there. This went on about three weeks or so and finally we killed the bear. So we ate bear for awhile."

That story seems to set the stage for Babcock's life. In the face of harsh conditions, danger — and even death — fear doesn't seem to be present in Russell. He takes it in stride with an ornery smile and a wisecrack.

Living dangerously is putting it mildly when it comes to Babcock. The number of treacherous and potentially deadly situations Russell has found himself in is almost unimaginable — and not all of them came during his active service in the military.

Other stories from early in his life include getting inadvertently hit in the head with a burning kerosene lamp that his mother threw out the door. He also recalled seeing a friend get kicked in the head by a cow while living on a 40-acre farm.

"In the back of it there was a hill and water would run down it," he said. "In the wintertime it would freeze and we had a nice, icy hill to ride sleds on. During the summertime, we'd go out in the coral and grab a cow by the tail and have it pull us around. No one got kicked for a long time. We finally stopped because a neighbor boy tripped and fell down behind a cow and it kicked him; it just missed his temple."

Babcock moved back to Delta and started school, where he graduated in 1961. He has all kinds of stories from those days about pranks, mischief and conflicts. He got himself kicked out of an English class with a teacher he didn't like by firing spit-wads all over the classroom. He ignored an unrelated suspension by coming to school anyway. He also drove himself to the DMV to take his driver's license test for the first time. Babcock recalls wearing out his 1949 Plymouth in six months by driving it all over Colorado and Utah.

"The bank re-possessed my car because I wasn't making any payments on it," he said. "But I had put about 2,000 miles on it in about six months. Of the four original tires and rims, there was one tire and rim left; and it was bald."

After the summer of 1961, Russell decided to join the Army. He completed his training at Fort Riley and would've moved up quickly because of his knack for leadership, but he was reprimanded for cursing too much in his written letters back home. After waiting around a little bit longer, Babcock finally qualified for the infantry.

He briefly visited Japan before being stationed at Camp Casey in South Korea just 60 miles south of enemy territory. Russell led a team at his leadership school that was effective in guerilla warfare. Babcock's leadership skills were undeniable and he was promoted to buck sergeant in 1966.

"If I wasn't running a patrol, I was showing these other squad leaders how to do it," he said. "At the end of the two weeks at the leadership school our company made the highest score ever. There was 1,000 possible points and we made over 900."

This led to Babcock being promoted to staff sergeant while at Fort Carson. He said it was definitely unusual for that to happen so quickly — another testament to his leadership.

"Normally when you get in a new unit you've got to be there at least 90 days before they even think about a promotion," he said. "Here I was six months as a buck sergeant and just 30 days at Fort Carson."

In 1967, Babcock went to Cu Chi, Vietnam, with the 25th Infantry. October of that year would prove to be one of the biggest tests of his life. He said it "was a good month or a bad month, depending on how you look at it."

On Oct. 9 Babcock received a Bronze Star of Valor for an attack on an enemy bunker. On Oct. 10 he received his first of three Purple Hearts when he took shrapnel in his right arm during a small fight on a secluded road. On Oct. 15 he received a Silver Star during the four-hour sweep of a base that turned into a four day battle. On Oct. 26 he got his second Purple Heart when he was again wounded by shrapnel in his right arm. It remains there today.

"I had a squad or two with me and we were set up in an ‘L' shape by the road about 10 or 12 feet from the hedgerow," he said. "I'm sitting there reading a comic book with my feet cocked out, leaning against a berm with my gun on the ground. My gunner kept telling me he heard something and I didn't have any grenades so he tossed me one. Then, right across from us in that bamboo hedgerow this (Viet Cong) pokes his head out. I threw the grenade and hit him in the head. It killed him but it got me in the same elbow as before. We had our flak jackets on and I had my compass in my front shirt pocket. A piece of shrapnel hit my compass and broke it."

In 1968 Babcock went back to Vietnam and earned his third Purple Heart. Being wounded a third time would disqualify him from further combat, but wouldn't end his military career. During a battle, Babcock was shot in the right side of his chest. The bullet went through his ribs and narrowly missed his lungs before exiting his back.

"My right side caught hell," he said. "After that battle, I rolled off the machine gun cussing. They pulled me back and bandaged me up and I sent a medic to find me a stretcher. After 30 minutes he came back and said he couldn't find it so I got up and started walking. I headed back and found two patrol sergeants talking so I sat down and yakked with them. Then I got up again and finally went and found the company medic."

Babcock received 11 stitches in his chest and 13 in his back; he was hospitalized for 12 days before returning to the military as a leadership school instructor. It was there he earned the rank of sergeant first class. He was out of the military in 1973 and worked as a driver, a security guard and did other odd jobs until 1987. That's when Babcock got the urge to re-enlist at the spry age of 45.

He said the computer system didn't even want to accept his birth date when he enlisted and apparently, neither did the other soldiers. People were in disbelief that a decorated soldier of Babcock's age was joining their ranks; and slowly but surely, he earned their respect. Once again, the squads competed to see who was best and once again, Russell's squad won every competition. With his leadership skills, Babcock was sent to Korea in 1992 at 50 years old.

"I had a lot more fun that second time," he said. "I could pretty much do whatever I wanted. I could get away with pretty much anything except murder."

Babcock finished up in Korea and then took another position at a leadership school. After he was out of the military he worked a few different jobs in Tennessee before settling into a steady security job. He did that until his knee caused him to start using a cane and walker to get around. His daughter then brought him to her residence in Park City, where he has lived ever since.

Babcock now enjoys participating in local veterans' groups, exercising at the Park City Senior Center, volunteering at the Museum of Treasures and doing art. He enjoys painting and photography. Some of his photography can be found in his book collaboration with Sharp.

Babcock's book "Twice a Soldier" is available on Amazon and Kindle.





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