When Dennis Hodgson returned from Vietnam in 1971 after serving 14 months as a cannoneer for 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), he just wanted to get home. Taking time to fill out the necessary paperwork was the last thing on the mind of a man who wanted to get back to Michigan and his fiancée.
Forty-two years later, Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, this morning presented the medals Hodgson earned during his time in the service of the United States Army: Air Medal, Army Commendation, National Defense Service, Vietnam Service, Marksman Badge, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon.
“Dennis Hodgson was called to serve his country and he did so honorably,” Upton said. “I’m proud to be able to present Mr. Hodgson with these medals.
“It’s important to recognize the dangerous work our service men and women do and have done through the decades.”
Hodgson said it was his children who pushed him into getting his service medals.
“We were just drafted,” Hodgson said of young men during that time period. “We were doing what our country wanted us to do and we did it. Some lost their lives. Some lost their limbs.
“I feel the most for the families still suffering for their loved ones lost over there – and for any war.”
Within months of coming home, Hodgson married his wife of 42 years, Kathleen. Together they’ve had five children and six grandchildren. They live in Kalamazoo. Hodgson is retired after working 36 years at the U.S. Post Office.
