Novato Advance
Marinscope Newspapers
War hero Ralph Webb was honored this month as a participant in an Honor Flight out of San Francisco to Washington, D.C.
Webb, a 45-year resident of Novato, earned the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star in the Korean War when he served in the Army as a platoon sergeant.
Speaking from his home, Webb recounted the trip as “really special.”
He and about 30 other veterans made the trip courtesy of Bay Area Honor Flights (honorflightbayara.org). The all-volunteer national organization took Webb and the group to see about a dozen memorials in DC – Army museum, World War II memorial, Arlington National Cemetery for the changing of the guard and wreath laying, Women’s memorial, Vietnam Wall, Lincoln memorial, Korean War memorial, FD Roosevelt memorial, Martin Luther King memorial, Navy Memorial, Marine’s memorial (Iwo Jima statue), Air Force memorial.
As the oldest member of the group at 91, Webb was chosen to lay the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which he called “a very moving moment.”
A native of West Virginia, Webb worked as a building contractor in Novato.
He enlisted to serve in the Army. In 1953, after his reconnaissance platoon was “bushwhacked,” he was hit by the shrapnel from an exploded grenade in his left leg. For that, he was awarded the Purple Heart. He also earned the Bronze Star when his platoon was attacked in close-quarters combat by enemy troops laying in wait.
Webb said he just “started to shoot up the area … and everyone got out of there in one piece.”
The Honor Flight included 20 “guardians” who accompanied the veterans. Webb’s guardian was retired Marin doctor Bob Bundy of Corte Madera.
Thank you, Sherm! A great article! Bob Bundy just forwarded me a copy, then I found it online. Looks like you did get it published for Veterans’ Day 🙂