Ken Wallingford – Prisoner of War
WALLINGFORD, KEN (1948~) Ken Wallingford entered the U.S. Army in 1969 and completed basic and advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, paratrooper school at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Special Forces, phase one training, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Wallingford was sent to Vietnam in August,1970 and was assigned as a sniper with the 25th Infantry Division. One year later, he volunteered for a second tour of duty as a military advisor with Military Assistance Command Vietnam. While advising 200 South Vietnamese troops on April 5, 1972 at Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, he and four other Americans came under heavy mortar and artillery fire from 30,000 troops of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong soldiers. After two and a half days of oppressive and massive fighting, the numerically superior enemy overran his camp. Six days before his scheduled discharge, he was severely wounded and was one of three survivors taken prisoner.
Imprisoned in the jungles of Cambodia, he was held in a five by six foot tiger cage for over ten months and was repatriated in February,1973 following the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement. He was one of the first two Texans to return home.
Military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, Army Commendation Medal for Valor with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Prisoner of War Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, Combat Infantry Badge, Paratrooper Badge and eight other medals and unit citations.
From late 1973 to early 1988, he was in banking and real estate in Austin. Beginning in September of 1988, Wallingford served as the Director of Veterans Liaison for the Texas Veterans Land Board. His responsibilities included broadening the VLB’s interests and awareness of needs in the Veteran community at both state and national levels and addressed areas and problems that could benefit from the agency’s resources. He developed effective working relationships with state and federal Veteran organizations. including the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. In August of 2018, after almost 30 years of service, he retired as the acting executive secretary of the Texas Veterans Land Board.
