Local two-time Purple Heart recipient lives to tell his story

George Zepeda, a proud member of the local brand of the Vietnam Veterans of America is now a two-time purple heart winner with a story that started when he was just 18 years old.

“I figured, I’m a man. You know? Macho. I walked by this poster and it said ‘We build men,’ and I said ‘How can you build a man? I’m already a man.’ So, I went in there and joined the Marine Corp. and they proved I wasn’t a man yet.”

Zepeda not only would become a man, but he would find himself fighting the battle of his life in Vietnam.

He remembers the wake-up call he got after his first day in boot camp. He explained that Marine Corps. boot camp is toughest of them all.

It was just what he needed to hit the battlefield.

“You get this feeling, I’m doing something and I’m going to do it right. I’m going to help them. Two sides of the coin, you’re helping somebody that’s defenseless and you’re fighting for your country.” said Zepeda.

He remembers one battle specifically.

“I was just one, gungho little Marine. I was a machine gunner, M-16 machine gunner and I used to shoot it all the time. Fight with it. Well, this time it was September the 29th, 1965. I’ll never forget the date.” said Zepeda.

Zepeda was in a battle with the enemy and did the unthinkable. He devised a plan that would stop them.

He noticed their fire coming from a bunker inside of a hut and called for a bazooka.

When the Marine operating the bazooka could not hear Zepeda, he jumped into action.

“He couldn’t hear me and he goes ‘where? where?’ So, I told him to look at my tracers. I had the M-14, I put the rounds in there and I stood up on my knees and I fired. ‘Boom. Boom. Boom.’ The tracer rounds went out. Then I turned to tell him and when I turned I got hit.” said Zepeda.

His life flashed before his eyes, after being hit by enemy fire.

“I could see my mom. I could see my grandmother and my wife,” explained Zepeda.

He explained that after a mix up that left him reported as killed in action, his wife thought he was dead.

“She thought I was dead and she was waiting for my body. Well, she got my body, but I was alive,” said Zepeda.

Not did Zepeda survive, he is now the recipient of two purple hearts.

He is proud to have served his country, even though at the time of the Vietnam War the country was divided.

After a career in the military that lasted two decades, he said he would do it all over again.

Zepeda said that his awards do not make him a hero.

“You’ll always hear it, you’re a hero. No, I’m not a hero. A hero is the guy that didn’t come back,” said Zepeda.