Looking for a Hero: Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper and the Vietnam War

Notes

Notes Prologue 1. A copy of the Medal of Honor file is in the Joe Ronnie Hooper Papers (henceforth jrhp). The file can also be viewed online at http://www.nara.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/ 5725/complete.txt. 2. Mark S. Hawk interview, June 21, 1997. Chapter 1 1. For the development of Moses Lake, see Rita G. Seedorf and Martin F. Seedorf, “Runways & Reclamation: The Influence of the Federal Government on Moses Lake,” Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History (Summer 1994), and the Columbia Basin (Moses Lake) Herald (henceforth cbh) for the relevant years. 2. This account of the Hooper household relies heavily on the interviews with Audrey Hooper, March 2, 1996, July 19, 1999, and May 16, 2000; Kathryn D. Hendricks (nee Hooper), June 16, 1999 and July 28, 1999; and Michael R. Grimm, September 19, 1999. 3. Mavis Withers (nee Opp) interview, April 16, 1996. 4. Copies of “Marriage Certificate” for Raymond Roy Sweatt and Maggie L. Garrison and “Certificate of Death” for Raymond Roy Sweatt, Michael R. Grimm Papers; copy of “Marriage Certificate” for John Henry Hooper and Maggie Sweatt, Audrey Hooper Papers. 5. Audrey Hooper interview, March 2, 1996. 6. James R. Gumm interview, July 2, 1995. 7. “How the Town Stands,” cbh, June 22, 1950, 1; “Moses Lake Census Hits 9,053,” cbh, April 1, 1955, 1; “Hospital Fund Drive Set for Next Friday,” cbh, February 4, 1949, 1; “Council Approves Sidewalk and Curb Project,” cbh, April 15, 1949, 1; “City Bus Line Begins Service,” cbh, April 26, 1955, 1. 8. Harold A. Hochstatter interview, April 12, 1996. 9. Thomas M. Johnson interview, April 14, 1996. 10. Johnson interview. 11. “Certificate of Achievement,” jrhp, and Joe’s eighth grade report card, Audrey Hooper Papers. 12. Rusty Cutlip interview, June 17, 2000. 13. “We Can Do Something on Juvenile Delinquency,” cbh, July 20, 1955, 4. 14. On James Dean, see David Hofstede, James Dean: A Bio-Biography (Westport ct: Greenwood Press, 1996); the reviewer’s quote is on page 45. 15. Michael C. C. Adams, The Best War Ever: America and World War II (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), 78, and Arthur Schlesinger Jr., “The Crisis of American Masculinity,” Esquire, November 1958, 63–65. 16. The discussion of manhood relies on E. Anthony Rotundo, American Manhood: Transformation in Masculinity from the Revolution to the Modern Era (New York: Basic Books, 1993); Michael Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History (New York: The Free Press, 1996); George L. Mosse, The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996); Michael A. Messner, Power at Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992); and Ralph D. Donald, “Masculinity and Machismo in Hollywood’s War Films,” in Steve Craig, ed., Men, Masculinity, and the Media (Newbury Park ca: Sage, 1992). 17. Tobin Siebers, Among Men (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998), 104 –5. 18. Joe’s tenth grade report card, Audrey Hooper Papers. 19. Ron Isakson interview, May 13, 1998. 20. Withers interview, April 16, 1996. 21. “Chief Grid Practice Set,” cbh, August 14, 1955, 8; “18 Chiefs End High School Play Friday,” cbh, November 9, 1955, 8; “Moses Lake Roster,” cbh, November 10, 1955, 7. 22. “Chief Sophs Win by 38–21,” cbh, September 19, 1955, 8; “Chief Jayvees Bow to Ephrata B Team, 18–7,” cbh, October 25, 1955, 7; “Jayvees Lose to Wenatchee,” cbh, November 1, 1955, 8; Cutlip interview, June 17, 2000. 23. For examples, see Mark Melson, “Vietnam’s Most-Decorated U.S. Soldier: Joe Hooper, Number One G.I.,” Shreveport Times, September 16, 1973, clipping in the jrhp, and Dave Wolf, “Probing the Minds of Men Paid to Annihilate Other Men,” Today’s Health, July 1973. 24. “Amateur Athletic Union” certificate, jrhp. The relevant school yearbooks do not show Joe on either the track or varsity football teams; see The Nineteen Fifty-Four Tyee, Through the Years with the 1955 Tyee, and Tyee 1956, all in the Thomas M. Johnson Papers. 25. Withers interview, April 16, 1996. 26. Roy Wayne Miller interview, April 11, 1999. Joe’s other high school pals—Isakson, Perez, Cutlip, and Mason—confirm his penchant for gambling. 27. “Local Negro Church Only One over Widespread Area,” cbh, October 7, 1955, 11. 28. Our thanks to Kevin Redding for sending a Xeroxed copy of Joe’s Social Security Account Number application. Redding wrote a brief essay on Joe; see “A Guy Named...