John Lucius Houston – Sergeant, United States Army

• Full Name: JOHN LUCIUS HOUSTON
• Date of Birth: 11/6/1941
• Date of Casualty: 7/6/1964
• Home of Record: WINTER PARK, FLORIDA
• Branch of Service: ARMY
• Rank: SGT
• Casualty Country: SOUTH VIETNAM
• Casualty Province: PR & MR UNKNOWN

Retired Army Captain Roger Donlon talked about two men in his special unit who died in his arms during the early part of the war in 1959.

Both men, Gabriel Alamo of New Jersey and John L. Houston of Florida, had wives at home who were expecting, and both lost babies from stress and premature birth. Houston’s wife was expecting twins. He died the day after receiving the letter that he was to become a father and when his wife found out, she gave premature birth. Donlon said the family’s infant son, John L. Houston Jr., is buried along with his father in Arlington National Cemetery.

“There’s two words that every warrior dreams to hear, is praised to hear,” he said to fellow veterans. “All of us have heard those words: Welcome Home.”

Donlon was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. He said that visiting the wall and telling stories about the Vietnam War era was a way to heal emotional wounds left from the war.

HOUSTON, JOHN L

• SGT USA
• DATE OF BIRTH: 11/06/1941
• DATE OF DEATH: 07/06/1964
• BURIED AT: SECTION 41  SITE 1316
• ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

HOUSTON, JOHN L JR S/O JOHN L

• DATE OF BIRTH: 07/07/1964
• DATE OF DEATH: 07/08/1964
• BURIED AT: SECTION 41  SITE 1316
• ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard