Getting Purple Heart makes Vietnam War vet feel whole

R.M. ``Cook'' Barela receives the medal he declined to accept more than 30 years ago in Vietnam.

Published: August 1, 1999
Edition: RIVERSIDE; ALL ZONES
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B03
By Luis BuenoThe Press-Enterprise |
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE

PHOTO GOES HERE

R. M. ``Cook'' Barela, left, gets a congratulatory kiss from his friend Dennis Martinez after having the Purple Heart pinned on his chest a during ceremony at March Air Reserve Base.

Second Photos

2. The Purple Heart awarded to R. M. ``Cook'' Barela at March Air Reserve Base. Copyright The Press-Enterprise Co. Art: STAND ALONE PHOTO

Caption: 1. Carlos Puma

For nearly 32 years, part of R.M. "Cook" Barela was missing.

On Saturday, he found completion as the Marine Corps awarded him the Purple Heart he had earned in a rice paddy in Vietnam in 1967.

"It's the only part of me that was missing," he said, fighting back tears, after receiving the Purple Heart. "I feel like I can now get out of those rice paddies and accept that what we did in 'Nam was honorable." Barela was part of a Marine platoon engaged in a three-day battle with North Vietnamese soldiers.

The unit was decimated. Only 12 of the 47 men who were in the platoon survived. Barela, a 19-year-old rifleman, was wounded by shrapnel from a grenade.

Temporarily paralyzed, Barela was ushered away to safety by fellow Marines. The next day, moments before he was supposed to receive his medal, Barela declined it. He said he felt that the Marines who had died during the previous day's fighting had paid a higher price, and he refused to accept the Purple Heart. The medal is awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded or killed in action.

"I had been wounded and I knew I had deserved the medal, but I never thought I would ever get it," Barela said of his decision to turn down the medal. Barela kept his silence about the war for 30 years, until retirement gave him time to read and to think about Vietnam. One day, Barela found a daily journal he had kept. He read it and decided to write a book. Barela began to look up his comrades. He decided that he would accept the Purple Heart. "I realized that it'd be an honor to those I had fought with (who) died by my side." Saturday, fellow war veteran and longtime friend Dennis Martinez clamped the medal to Barela's suit jacket.

"I was with Cook when he was hit," Martinez said. "It was just the circumstances of the time that he didn't want it (the Purple Heart)." Just before Martinez pinned the Purple Heart to Barela's chest, he told Barela how much the award means to everyone and how much everyone adores Barela. And after pinning the medal to Barela's chest, Martinez grabbed him, hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm thrilled for old Cook," Martinez said. "I love him."

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