Captain Kidd reminds what Leisure died for

Remembering the Fallen

Captain Kidd reminds what Leisure died for

By John Earp

This past Monday morning, the City of Jal held a Memorial Day Service at Cooper Cemetery. A small but devoted crowd of about 40 attended. Jim Ellison introduced the speaker for the service, Captain Kidd, whom he had met 10 years previous at the Memorial Day Service that was held that year at the Jal Cemetery. He said he had heard many speakers at memorial services over the years, “but none of them could touch Captain Kidd,” who also knew Jackie Leisure. He also mentioned the hard work of Roxie Swain on getting all the names for the Veterans’ Memorial Park downtown.

Kidd commenced by saying, “Number one, I’m not a speaker, but I knew Jackie, and all I did ten years ago was just merely tell the folks my interaction with Jackie.” Kidd then proceeded to share some of his experience in Viet Nam, noting that he and Leisure hit it off right away, after realizing through conversation that they had grown up in the region, Kidd in Grandfalls and Leisure in Jal. He said, “There for just a little bit, we were home, not in no damn war, so we got to be pretty good friends” his voice catching a bit as he spoke. He continued by describing some of the recondo (reconnaissance commando) work he and Leisure both were involved in during the war. Kidd also noted that Leisure had chosen to stay a day longer before coming home than he had to, and was killed by a Viet Cong sniper after walking up to an apparently wounded Viet Cong soldier. Kidd said, “Jack couldn’t get a medivac out. He was low priority on the totem pole. That’s exactly what I told him, you can’t work that way.” He said, “Over that one incident, that whole company liked to have just quit, because it was needless, what happened. They changed a bunch of things up after that. Jack stayed an extra day. No telling how many lives he saved. He was a legend. A company of heroes, and he was their hero. He had the heart of a hero, and that’s something that can’t be taught. And where’d Jack get that from? He got it from Jal, New Mexico, the way he was raised, and that’s where he got it from. A lot of people say, ah, the Viet Nam War, those people died needlessly, uselessly, there was no point, blah, blah, blah. No, no. I disagree. The people I’m looking at here, they’re the living justification for every sacrifice we made. The war’s over for Jack, but it’s not over for us. We have to continue to make them heroes. We have to continue our way of life and teaching it to the young ones. That’s what he died for.”