By Daniel Lapham
Published on June 26, 2008

The definition of a hero to Vietnam veteran and Calumet native Pat Jordan isn’t making it through a war, to serve one’s country is simply what was expected.

Although, decorated for his time in service to his country, Jordan refused the title of hero.

“Do I consider myself a hero? Of course not. I don’t know exactly what makes a hero. I think if you ask most veterans, they’ll tell you, you just did what had to be done. Most of your heroes didn’t make it home. I was just a soldier doing my job just like everybody else was,” the 65-year-old “farm boy” said.

The job Jordan did, although not heroic to him, was but one piece to the overall painting he said depicts the nature of the American soldier.

“I am a very patriotic individual, and I think all veterans are to some extent. We have all done our part,” he said. “It’s about service. Every veteran, whether it’s from World War II to Iraq, knows what it is to do something you don’t want to do. There is a lot of kinship there, because you understand what it is about.”

Jordan said he has seen an improvement in the reception modern soldiers receive in contrast to the one he received upon his return from Vietnam.

“I am proud to see the way people are treating our soldiers coming home from Iraq,” he said. “You are sending your children down range and it is nice to see them getting a pat on the back. They are doing their part for America and I think it is just real important that everyone understands no one wants to go over there and lose an arm. They are somebody’s child, somebody’s husband, somebody’s daddy.”

The beginning of Jordan’s trek to the jungle unfolded like many others in Oklahoma, he said.

“I went to school in El Reno until 1959 when I left for Claremore Oklahoma Military Academy for my junior and senior years in high school,” he said. “From there I went to OU, from there to Southwestern and from there to the military.”

Jordan said his path toward military service took him on a whirlwind journey from the mountains of Colorado to the jungles of Vietnam, painting a life he said couldn’t be imagined without the military.

“It has to build character, if nothing else. There were some hard times but there were also some good times. I think the key is to forget about the bad times,” he said. “You’ll never forget them but you just can’t relive it.”

Leaving El Reno to attend military school was only the beginning of what would amount to Jordan’s seven years of service as an officer in the Army.

“After high school I attended OU and Southwestern. I wasn’t really drafted. I attended ROTC so I knew I was going to serve. It came down to a letter. It basically said, ‘You have 200 semester hours and haven’t graduated. You can graduate and do your service or do it now.’”

After a year of training in Fort Carson, Colo., Jordan said he was sent off to Vietnam to serve as a platoon leader in the 34th Armory. The military “was an eye-opening experience for a farm boy from Calumet, Oklahoma,” Jordan said. “I was commissioned on Sept. 24, 1966. That is a date no soldier will forget. I went in as a second lieutenant and came out in 1973 as a captain.”

After serving his first year in Vietnam, Jordan came back to Fort Hood, Texas. “From there I was sent to serve as a liaison for the Democratic National Convention. Then I went back to Vietnam to be an adviser to the Vietnamese Army,” Jordan said.
He served in that role from April 1970 to March 1971.

“We would go out in groups of two with say 100 Vietnamese soldiers,” he said.

Once his work training Vietnamese soldiers was complete, Jordan said he looked at his life at its happiest moment and that is when he returned to school.
“When I got out of the Army I thought, ‘What was the most fun you had?’ The answer was going to school. So that is what I did,” Jordan said. “Now I have a master’s degree in elementary education and a double major in history and business.”

After completing his education, Jordan said he returned to Calumet in 1975 where he’s lived ever since.

“There are a lot of trying times and a lot of stress in life,” he said. “You just have to look at the good stuff.”