Revered war hero accepts award, recounts life

ROSEVILLE – Ronald Rosser seems to remember everything about his military service: the night he crawled through moonlit snow dressed in a sheet to infiltrate enemy lines, the day he used the butt of his rifle to break through the edge of an ice-crusted river to escape gunfire.

The 84-year-old Korean War veteran is the stuff of legend. He single-handedly subdued more than a dozen enemy troops on more than one occasion, including Jan. 12, 1952, the day his actions on a South Korean hillside earned him the U.S. Medal of Honor. Last month, he was given the South Korean Medal of Honor. He's the only man to receive the highest decoration of valor in two countries.

Rosser was quite comfortable with the 100-person crowd that packed into the American Legion in Roseville on Thursday to witness the dedication of a Medal of Honor: Korean War stamp featuring his face and the faces of 12 other recipients from the Korean War.

Decked out in more than a dozen war medals, including the Medal of Honor that President Harry Truman placed around his neck in 1952, Rosser addressed his hometown with an acceptance speech that was equal parts gratitude and humor.

"It's a great honor to be honored by your hometown, your family, your friends," Rosser began. "I've been before Congress, the Supreme Court, I've been a personal escort of a Saudi Arabian official, and a judge at the Miss America contest. My lips are still sore from all those kisses."

His military career took Rosser around the world several times. He's parachuted onto a Japanese emperor's golf course and embarked on a speaking tour with former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"Not bad for an old country boy," Rosser said with a smirk.

As one of 17 children growing up in a small Crooksville home, Rosser learned early on the importance of self-sufficiency. At 12 years old, he would load a few essentials — matches, a .22-caliber rifle, a knife — into a pack and take off into the woods for a week at a time, killing what he needed and "just living off the land."

Arriving home from one of his outdoor adventures, a 17-year-old Rosser learned his mother had delivered the last of his siblings as twins.

"I said, 'Well, there goes my spot at the table.' "

Two weeks later, he was off to the U.S. Army. He served a three-year term of service and was back home when he got the news that his brother, Richard, had been killed. Within weeks, he was re-enlisted.

"I'm of the mindset that if you hit my brother, I'll break every bone in your body," Rosser said while autographing copies of the stamps. "You mess with my sister, well, you better leave town."

Rosser found himself on a Korean hillside less than a year later, advancing his platoon up a heavily fortified hill under intense enemy fire. It was Jan. 12, 1952, and Rosser remembers sprinting up the hillside, lungs burning. He held a M2 carbine rifle in one hand, a hand grenade in the other, a move that earned him the nickname "the gunfighter" among his fellow soldiers.

He didn't have time to notice he was the only soldier advancing up the hill. Three times he charged, returning to friendly territory only to gather more ammunition and help his fellow soldiers out of the line of fire. At one point, Rosser had enemy soldiers hanging from his back as he felt the bullets tearing through his clothing, knives narrowly missing his face.

"I was a natural. I mean, the worst they could do was kill me," Rosser said. "Most people are afraid of dying, but living is just as hard. I'm not afraid of either."

George Rosser, Ronald Rosser's nephew, was in attendance Thursday, and said his uncle's legacy inspired him to join the army.

"After his actions, the military was sort of a right of passage in my family," George Rosser said. "I'm proud of him. It's nice to see him and the other men who gave so much be recognized."

Stanley Todd Inman, 91, has known Ronald Rosser since childhood. Inman was shot in the head, and again in the foot while being carted away, during a World War II battle in the South Pacific. Despite being awarded three Purple Hearts, Inman said he will "gladly salute (Ronald Rosser) any time I see him."

Ronald Rosser retired from the Army in 1968 when his superiors refused to allow him to return to combat to avenge his brother's death in the Vietnam War.

"Rather than live in the past," Rosser said he chose to "get on with life," becoming a college graduate, school teacher, general contractor, chief of police and world traveler.

Near the end of his acceptance speech, Rosser admitted his actions were matched by hundreds of people who never lived to tell their stories. He said he was "just trying to do my duty and protect my people."

As visitors left the American Legion, Rosser added the following sentiment in his never-ceasing smirk: "I just never gave up. It didn't matter what it was. You couldn't whoop me. I was just that kind of guy. I guess I still am. Fear's a crazy thing. Life should be lived, not tolerated."

poneill@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @PatrickZTR