{"id":24015,"date":"2014-12-02T09:01:25","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T14:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=24015"},"modified":"2014-12-02T09:09:01","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T14:09:01","slug":"a-heros-welcome-home-43-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=24015","title":{"rendered":"A hero\u2019s welcome home \u2013 43 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Troop 31’s <\/span>Ray Coe honored at last for honorable military & community service<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[slideshow_deploy id=’24017′]<\/i><\/p>\n

By Kim Chiomento,<\/strong> Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

PENNSBURY \u2013 For Ray Coe, the experience of returning home from the Vietnam War was a far cry from the jubilant\u00a0and\u00a0packed Hillendale Elementary gymnasium; filled with\u00a0patriotic well-wishers, who gathered to witness the long overdue military medal ceremony held in his honor last night.<\/p>\n

\"Enthusiastic<\/a>

Attendees give Coe a long overdue hero’s reception.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI had no idea the scope of what was going to happen tonight…this kind of reception was just unimaginable to me when I returned home 43 years ago.\u201d\u00a0 Due to the political climate and anti-war movements of that era, American service members returning home from Vietnam were most often given a chilly reception;\u00a0mocked and rarely, if ever, thanked for their service.<\/p>\n

In Coe\u2019s case, he was never officially presented with several prestigious medals, including the Bronze Star, \u00a0the Army Commendation Medal with \u201cV\u201d device for valor exhibited in combat, National Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Vietnam Campaign Medal and four\u00a0US Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges (Sharpshooter Badge, Automatic Rifle, Pistol and Rifle Bars.)<\/p>\n

While serving 13 months in Vietnam, Coe narrowly survived four<\/em> near-death experiences and witnessed regular, horrific trauma to his brothers-in-arms. One\u00a0example is while serving with A Troop, 3rd Squadron, 4th Calvary he\u00a0was involved in a reconnaissance operation when the lead vehicle detonated an enemy land mine; which in turn, initiated an enemy attack. Despite being injured in the initial blast, Coe helped\u00a0move a wounded comrade from the vehicle while exposing himself to hostile fire. \u00a0His bravery and commitment to his duty was a major reason why his fellow soldier survived.\u00a0\u201cAs you can imagine, it is very difficult for me to talk about the war.\u00a0 When you see that much trauma, it keeps on ‘giving’…I think about those experiences every day.\u201d \u00a0His selfless actions that day earned Ray Coe the Purple Heart.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3237\"<\/a>

Coe congratulated by PA State Representative Stephen Barrar and members of Troop 31’s leadership team.<\/p><\/div>\n

During one of his darkest times\u00a0he found himself attending a modest Vietnam church service; silently praying that he would just make it out alive.\u00a0 He explains being constantly terrified and brokering a deal; of sorts, recalling telling God \u201cIf I get out of here; I will do whatever you call me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coe says, \u201cI was haunted by the debt of actually getting out alive and decided to become\u00a0involved with the Scouts when my son, Andrew, was a Cub.\u201d\u00a0 The parallels between Scouting and the military are many, including: upholding the highest principles of patriotism, service, honor and being directly involved in the development of future generations of leaders.\u00a0 It soon became clear that Coe had found his calling. Ironically, after Vietnam, Coe vowed never to go camping.\u00a0\u00a0He wistfully\u00a0recalls when he would accompany\u00a0Scouts into the woods; he would \u00a0not just see trees, but rather, a place full of snipers set for attack.<\/p>\n

For more than 25 years, Coe has served \u00a0the Boy Scouts – Troop 31,\u00a0Chadds Ford; including acting as Scoutmaster for the past 15 years even after his son earned Eagle Scout rank. \u00a0Troop 31 has had an incredible record since its inception in 1948; serving over 1,000 Scouts; 106 of which, have earned the elite honor of Eagle Scout rank.\u00a0 Under Coe\u2019s leadership, 76 Scouts have earned Eagle Badges. \u00a0It is believed that Coe holds the Chester County Council’s record of 14 Eagle Scouts within one year; and the Troop under his guidance remains very highly regarded within the Scouting community.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3224\"<\/a>

Troop 31’s local heritage themed neckerchief.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Luci McClure, Assistant Scout Master for Troop 31, heard that Coe did not receive the medals owed to him\u00a0she worked very closely with a key resource and Veteran’s proponent, PA State Representative- Stephen Barrar (R-160), Chairman, House Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committees.\u00a0 Together, \u00a0McClure and Barrar set the wheels in motion to set this injustice right.\u00a0 Soon, word spread about Coe, his valor, leadership, service and the momentum to honor him became\u00a0unstoppable; with the end result being\u00a0last night’s extremely well-attended medal presentation and celebration.<\/p>\n

The ceremony\u00a0was\u00a0hosted by Coe’s dedicated and super-energized “home” Troop-31; and featured presentations of flags flown by both active military as well as flown\u00a0over state and national capitols, color guard, patriotic music by Amerikids<\/em> Chorus, a Troop\u00a0skit, Scout testimonials and a reception that followed. \u00a0Troop \u00a0Committee Chairman, Michael Maxwell, gave a moving testimonial of Coe’s merits, \u201cThank you for\u00a0your service as a soldier…the enthusiasm here tonight\u00a0 has been overwhelming…it shows that people are lining-up to give back to a man who has given so much.\u201d Troop 31 also presented Coe with a bound copy of his very personal Vietnam memoirs: Blood, Sweat and a Year.<\/em><\/p>\n

After Vietnam, Coe earned a Business Management degree from Widener University in 1974; the same year he married his wife Cindi. \u00a0He has held many diverse leadership positions within the Scout’s Chester County Council and currently resides in Pocopson Township. \u00a0To learn more about the accomplishments and history of Troop 31, their events and service projects, please visit: www.chaddsfordtroop31.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Troop 31’s Ray Coe honored at last for honorable military & community service [slideshow_deploy id=’24017′] By Kim Chiomento, Staff Writer, The Times PENNSBURY \u2013 For Ray Coe, the experience of returning home from the Vietnam War was a far cry from the jubilant\u00a0and\u00a0packed Hillendale Elementary gymnasium; filled with\u00a0patriotic well-wishers, who gathered to witness the long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[87,39,6476,6477,976],"class_list":["post-24015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-boy-scouts","tag-chadds-ford","tag-military-awards","tag-ray-coe","tag-troop-31"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24015"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24030,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24015\/revisions\/24030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}