California Gov. Gavin Newsom initiates posthumous pardon for Petaluma war hero Sgt. Richard Penry
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Veterans Day that he has begun the process of granting a posthumous pardon for the only Petaluma native awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.
As part of the governor's series of Veterans Day announcements highlighting the state's investment into the mental health of veterans and the pardoning of five servicemen for their past crimes in Southern California, Newsom additionally said he has initiated the process for granting a posthumous pardon to Sergeant Richard Allen Penry, an Army veteran from Petaluma who received the Medal of Honor after returning from Vietnam.
The pardon is part of a larger effort by one Petaluma man to address the psychological ravages of war that are so often ignored.
The small town of Petaluma is said to have the second largest Veterans Day celebration in the state. And on a hill overlooking the annual parade was Penry Park, named for a native son who was awarded the Medal of Honor for what happened on January 31st, 1970, in a jungle in Vietnam as his company came under attack.
"He single-handedly, by himself, held off a larger enemy force and then single-handedly evacuated people to an opening in the jungle where they could drop a jungle extractor," said Retired Army Major Andrew LeMarquand. "They said that he didn't just save his platoon. He saved the entire company from an ambush."
LeMarquand has taken a special interest in Penry's story, not just for carrying 18 wounded soldiers to safety, but also because of what they found when help finally arrived.
"He was just sitting there. Sgt. Penry was just sitting on a log by himself, just smoking a cigar, shaking. Just all alone. Didn't want to be by anybody, for obvious reasons," said LeMarquand. "And, yeah, isolating oneself is one of the first signs of folks that have experienced some pretty severe trauma."
Sgt. Penry had PTSD, though the term hadn't been invented yet and no one talked about the psychological trauma of war much. He returned to a hero's welcome but got no help dealing with the horrors he had experienced.
Sergeant Penry was awarded the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism at the risk of his own life" by President Nixon in 1971.
He began using drugs, and two years after receiving the Medal of Honor, was arrested on state and federal charges for selling $950 worth of cocaine to an undercover officer. His younger sister Patty said, like everyone else, the brother she called "Butch" had strengths and weaknesses.
"I believe the judge that sentenced him also said that he did more for his country in one day than most Americans do in an entire lifetime," said Patty. "So I guess it's both those things, right? He is just an ordinary person, but he also did something that was just spectacular."
Butch Penry died in 1994 at the the age of 45. For the last two years, LeMarquand has been working to clear his record. He has petitioned both the Governor and the President for posthumous pardons for the crimes. But he said he's also doing it for those he served with in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom are still suffering in silence.
"I started to reach out to a lot of the folks that I served with, and it's very well-known now that war trauma causes PTSD. And PTSD is leading to suicide, high rates of drug addiction and whatever people choose to cope, in my generation," LeMarquand said. "And it became very clear to me that Sgt. Penry never stood a chance."
Patty agreed.
"I don't think it's fair that we ask people to go do what they're doing right now and then just leave them," she said. "Say, 'Ok, you're back, have fun. Thanks for your service.' And then we just leave them without really thinking about what has occurred to them, or what they've seen or done."
She said she's thankful that LeMarquand is one of the few working to create some kind of re-integration strategy that can support those returning from the fields of battle.
"I think what he's doing right now is going to help so many people coming back from war," Patty said. "They're going to get what they need."
Because it's not enough just to offer thanks for someone's service. Sometimes we need to offer help, as well.
The governor's announcement said his clemency request has been passed on to the State Supreme Court for final authorization. The request for a Presidential pardon for the federal charge is still being considered.