Cloyde Pinson Sr. drew the neatly folded flag to his heart and hugged it. Stripped of its flag, the casket was then lowered into the ground. His son, the fallen soldier, was home.
Home is Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery , the sprawling memorial to veterans that the elder Mr. Pinson helped establish.
Though a veteran himself, Mr. Pinson had never planned to be buried there.
The Irving resident wanted to join his only son, Pfc. Cloyde Pinson Jr., in a family plot at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas .
That changed Wednesday, when his son's body was moved in a quiet recommittal service to the top of a hill at the national cemetery.
His son served as a point Marine in Vietnam and was overrun on a night patrol. The 20-year-old was killed in action on May 12, 1967. Cloyde Pinson, Jr. was in Delta Co. 1/5 when he was killed on May 12, 1967 on Operation Union .
On that day 33 years later, Mr. Pinson dedicated the national cemetery.
Ken Watterson, a vice commandant of the Marine Corps League and a vice chairman of the Texas National Cemetery Foundation, spearheaded the recommittal, which he called the "Change of Duty Station."
"We wanted to show our appreciation and support for Mr. Pinson," Mr.Watterson said. "Cloyde spent about 15 years working on bringing this cemetery to the area. He had no vision of being buried here but did this for our veterans."
So his friends wanted to do something for him in return. Mr. Pinson, 83, finally gave in and allowed his son to be moved.
Cloyde Pinson Sr. clutches the American flag that was removed from his son's casket.
"It was an emotional moment," said Mr. Watterson, a former Marine who served several tours of duty in Vietnam .
He said Pfc. Pinson is the first and probably will be the only Vietnam veteran killed in action to be buried at the national cemetery.
Gary Poplin, a former Navy senior chief and a vice chairman of the cemetery foundation, made sure the event went smoothly. "We organized this quickly, but we wanted it to be low-key," he said, adding that a more formal memorial service is scheduled for May 21.
Mr. Pinson, a World War II veteran, said he truly appreciated everyone's efforts. At his side during the event were his wife, Peggy, and his daughter, Diane Wallace of Irving .
He was particularly touched by a member of the Marine motorcycle group that accompanied his son's casket in a procession from cemetery to cemetery.
"Smokey [Jay] Kimbrough drove 545 miles to be here," Mr. Pinson said. The former Marine knew Mr. Pinson's son in junior high school and once dated Mr. Pinson's daughter. But the connections go deeper. He also served in Vietnam at the same time as Pfc. Pinson.
"Smokey was going to escort my son's body back but then was seriously injured," Mr. Pinson said.
Mr. Kimbrough said he was disappointed he couldn't help the family back then. He had lost touch with the Pinsons but occasionally visited his fallen comrade. "I'd stop by Laurel Land when I came to Dallas and leave my business card," he said.
He found out about the reburial on the Patriot Guard Riders Web site. A new member of the group, he knew he had to be there.
"I left around 4:30 a.m.on my bike," said the San Marcos resident, who works in Austin as deputy first assistant to the Texas attorney general.
"It's a blessing to know the Pinsons," Mr. Kimbrough said. "Mr. Pinson is a giant for vets."
And when the time comes, that giant will now be able to rest in peace near his son at the cemetery he birthed.
Veterans' advocate, cemetery father dies
Dallas : Man to lie near son at burial grounds he worked to establish
11:23 PM CDT on Saturday, April 15, 2006
By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News
Two days after the body of Pfc. Cloyde C. Pinson Jr. was placed in the cemetery his father helped establish, Cloyde C. Pinson Sr. died.
The 83-year-old World War II veteran spearheaded efforts to create Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery , which opened May 12, 2000 – exactly 33 years after his son was killed in action in Vietnam .
Mr. Pinson was a tireless advocate for veterans.
"When I looked in his office and saw how much more he wanted to do, it's so sad," said his daughter, Diane Brown Wallace of Irving.
As chairman and founder of the Texas National Cemetery Foundation, Mr. Pinson had been raising funds for a monument at the cemetery to honor fallen servicemen.
On Wednesday, Mr. Pinson took part in an emotional ceremony to move his son's casket from Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas to a plot at the top of a hill at the cemetery for veterans.
On Friday, Mr. Pinson underwent knee surgery at St. Paul 's Hospital in Dallas .
"The surgery had gone well," Ms. Wallace said. "He was fine and perfectly clear afterwards."
Reaction
Gary Poplin, the cemetery foundation's senior vice chairman, said Mr. Pinson's work would live on.
"The foundation's board and members are saddened and deeply regret the untimely death of our founder," Mr. Poplin said in a written statement. "Chairman Pinson served this foundation tirelessly for more than 15 years. [We] will continue in our efforts to recognize, honor and pay tribute to all veterans through our planned projects."
Ken Watterson, a vice commandant of the Marine Corps League, organized last week's reburial. It was always Mr. Pinson's wish to be laid to rest next to his son. The move allows Mr. Pinson to be buried at the place he created.
"He means so much to veterans," Mr. Watterson said of the elder Mr. Pinson. "Out of respect for his hard work for all veterans, we raised the funds to have his son moved."
Mr. Pinson's son, a Marine private, was 20 when he was killed in Vietnam after serving for about six months.
"I tried to talk him into joining another branch of the service, but he told me, 'Dad, I'm going in the hard way,' " Mr. Pinson said at Wednesday's service.
Years of service
A native of Ohio , the elder Mr. Pinson joined the Army in 1941 with his twin brother, Clyde . He transferred to the Air Force in 1947 and retired in 1961.
He spent the next two decades in civil service as the Air Force plant representative at General Dynamics in Fort Worth. When he retired in 1983, his family said, he began his most important job – creating the national cemetery.
He was active in several local veterans organizations. The Irving chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars is named the Pinson Memorial Chapter in his honor and in memory of his son.
"He was so proud of his son and the cemetery," said Mr. Watterson, who accompanied Mr. Pinson on Wednesday to place two flags next to his son's headstone.
"He asked the cemetery director how long the flags could be there," Mr. Watterson said. "And he was told forever."
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Pinson is survived by two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Donnelly's Colonial Funeral Home, 606 W. Airport Freeway in Irving . Services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Donnelly's, followed by burial at 3 p.m. at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery , 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas .
A formal memorial service for the son, which was set for 2 p.m. May 21 at the cemetery, will now be for both father and son.
These artcles submitted by 1/5 Vietnam Veteran Bill James.