AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds of people gathered at a church near Austin recently to remember an Aggie who was killed in combat during the Vietnam War more than five decades ago.
The remains of U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ronald Forrester were found during excavations of the site where his plane crashed in North Vietnam. In December 2023, DNA testing confirmed his identity, according to Texas A&M, and he was finally brought home to Texas.
Forrester was 25 when he died during the combat mission in December 1972.
Fifty-one years later, Aggie classmates and fellow veterans joined family members to remember the fallen hero. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III also attended.
Forrester was one of more than 1,500 Americans still unaccounted for from the war, according to Vietnam Veterans of America.
Daughter Karoni Forrester was only 2 when her father was killed. She dedicated much of her life to the mission of finding those missing in action and said her father's story offers hope to other families.
“We stand with you until it’s your family’s turn,” Forrester said during the memorial. “It’s going to be your turn.”
Forrester's nephew, Craig also spoke about how he was inspired to follow in his uncle's footsteps by going to A&M and joining the Corps of Cadets.
“Though I have no memories of him that are my own, the man that he was, shared with me through the memories of others, had a tremendous impact on the man that I’ve become and the man that I continue to strive to be,” he said.
Like his uncle, Forrester joined the Marines and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“When I got there, I had no choice but to succeed. There was no way that I was going to tarnish his memory, his legacy, by not seeing it through,” he said. “When times were the toughest, I just reminded myself that my Uncle Ronnie had already been through all of this. I was Ron Forrester’s nephew. I’d muster up the grit to see it through as well.”
The service included the familiar Aggie whooping and the singing of the Aggie War Hymn.
Forrester's remains, and those of the pilot who died alongside him, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery later this year, according to Texas A&M Today.
