CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A permanent Purple Heart Exhibit will debut later this year at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. In collaboration with Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 598, the museum is crafting the exhibit and gathering names and stories of Purple Heart recipients from across the Coastal Bend to honor their service and include them in the exhibit. However, participation has been low, and MOPH urgently needs more input to ensure every Purple Heart recipient in the area is recognized.
A Purple Heart recipient is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who has been wounded or killed while serving.
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To participate, individuals are required to complete an online form that gathers general information about a veteran’s service. This includes veterans who are living or deceased from South Texas.
Click here to add a Purple Heart recipient's name for the exhibit.
KRIS 6 News anchor and Veterans in Focus Reporter, Michelle Hofmann sat down with Reynaldo Torres, a United States Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient. He believes the exhibit will be a great way to honor their service, but he also said it may provide relief.
About Reynaldo Torres
For Reynaldo Torres, joining the Marine Corps is a legacy that runs deep, with multiple family members dedicating their lives to the service. From his brothers to his son, the Marine Corps has shaped his family’s identity. His eldest brother, Rafael, passed away in May 2002. He served for about 20 years, earning three Purple Hearts after being wounded three times in combat. Another brother, Rudy, spent over two decades in the Corps as a recruiter and public relations specialist. His brother-in-law, Virgil, also served for over 20 years, working in supplies and spending time overseas in Vietnam. Even Reynaldo’s son followed in their footsteps, serving four years as a culinary specialist, stationed in Okinawa and traveling as a personal cook for officers.
“As a Marine, you are proud of the things you do and the training you receive,” Reynaldo says. “You’re trained to be number one, to stand out, and that’s what we do.”
After graduating from high school in 1966, Reynaldo attended Del Mar College for two years. With limited finances to continue his education, he volunteered for the Marine Corps, following in the footsteps of his brothers. He was sent to San Antonio for processing and then to Camp Pendleton, California, for training.
The training was intense but accelerated due to the demands of the Vietnam War. “We went through hand-to-hand combat training, rifle range, and learned to use all the weapons we’d see in combat,” he recalls. “Back then, regular training was about 14 months, but because of the war, they shortened it to 12 weeks. We had to learn fast.”
Within a year and a half, Reynaldo found himself in Vietnam, landing in Da Nang under mortar fire. “As we were about to land, the pilot said, ‘We’re going to have to go around again because there’s incoming fire on the landing area.’ We circled a couple of times before finally landing. When we got off the plane, there were mortars coming in from the Viet Cong. It was chaos.”
Reynaldo’s first days in Vietnam were a stark introduction to the realities of war.
“I asked one of the Marines how to get to my unit, and he said, ‘You’ll hitchhike. Don’t worry—military vehicles will pick you up. But watch out for snipers. If you’re alone or in a small group, they’ll get you.’ That was my first lesson in survival,” Reynaldo recalls.
One of his most vivid memories is of a sergeant showing him and other new recruits the bodies of three Marines who had just been killed.
“The sergeant pulled out a blanket, and there were three bodies. He said, ‘That’s what’s going to happen to you if you don’t listen to your sergeants. You don’t want to be one of those KIAs (killed in action).’ It was a wake-up call,” Reynaldo says.
Reynaldo was assigned to a unit patrolling the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Vietnam. During one ambush, the first three Marines in his unit were killed. He was the fourth in line and narrowly escaped death.
“I saw grenades being thrown at me, so I jumped between the roots of a big tree. That’s the only thing that saved me,” he says. “I got shrapnel in my leg, back, and head. It was terrifying, but I was lucky to survive.”
Medically evacuated by helicopter, Reynaldo was treated on a ship off the coast of Vietnam before being transferred to hospitals in Okinawa, Hawaii, and finally Corpus Christi, Texas. He spent three months recovering from his injuries before being honorably discharged.
Life After the military
After his discharge, Reynaldo used the GI Bill to complete his education, earning a teaching degree from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. He began his career as a teacher and coach in his hometown of Flour Bluff before moving to Sinton, where he spent over 20 years as a coach and later as an assistant principal and principal.
Transitioning from combat to civilian life was not easy. “There were many nights I couldn’t sleep,” he admits. “I had recurring dreams of bodies, of being attacked. You don’t forget those things. They stay with you.”
Reynaldo also reflects on the challenges his oldest brother faced after returning from Vietnam. “My brother went to Vietnam three times and came back very disturbed. He turned to drinking to cope. It was hard for him to adjust to civilian life after everything he’d been through.”
For Reynaldo, talking about his experiences has been both difficult and therapeutic. “It kind of relieves me a little bit,” Reynaldo says. “These are thoughts you carry your entire life. Sometimes I break down just thinking about it, but it helps to talk about it.”
Reynaldo added his name to MOPH’s list of Purple Heart recipients. He is proud of the Military Order of the Purple Heart’s efforts to honor veterans and share their stories. “A lot of people don’t know what the Purple Heart is or what happens to people in combat,” he says. “Stories like this will help others who have been in the military, who have been in combat, to get over their situations.”
Reynaldo also hopes that sharing his story will help others understand the sacrifices made by veterans. “When we came back from Vietnam, we were called names and treated poorly. We were just doing our job—going into combat and fighting for our country. It’s important for people to know what we went through.”
More Veterans In Focus stories are available here, along with resources for local veterans.
Contact Veterans In Focus reporter Michelle Hofmann at michelle.lorenzo@kristv.com
