Va Wing Dedicated To War Hero Joe Hooper

The in-patient addiction wing at the Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center was officially dedicated after Moses Lake's Joe Hooper yesterday.

Hooper often is called the most decorated U.S. soldier of the Vietnam War, having collected 37 citations. He won the Medal of Honor for action near Hue Feb. 21, 1968.

But after President Nixon declared the war's end in 1973, alcohol absorbed Hooper's life. He died in 1979, apparently from an accident inside a Kentucky hotel room, at age 39.

His close friends say he had a classic case of posttraumatic stress disorder, an anxiety malady that has afflicted perhaps 500,000 Vietnam combat veterans.

Essentially, it is a delayed and persistent reaction to the horrors of the battlefield.

But the Veterans Administration did not officially recognize the disorder until 1980.

The naming of the hospital's wing yesterday came after several years of effort by Hooper's friends Mike Sallis and Larry Frank, who had lobbied Washington state congressional representatives since 1982.

Last year, an Army Reserve center in Bothell was named for him.

But Sallis and Frank sought to have the hospital named for Hooper because, they feel, he was the most decorated soldier of the war and deserves the same recognition as Sgt. Alvin York and Audie Murphy, legendary World War I and II heroes, respectively.

``We didn't know until about six months ago that it was the drug and alcohol rehabilitation ward that they were naming for him,'' said Sallis. ``If they are doing it because of his troubles with alcohol I think it is a slap in the face because he should be remembered for being the brave soldier he was.''

But Rep. Rod Chandler, R-Bellevue, said during the ceremony that the honor was passed through Congress not just to celebrate Hooper's gallantry but to publicly commit to fighting the problems that plague many veterans.

``The story of Joe Hooper is an American story of a lanky kid who went to war and came back a hero,'' said Chandler, a recovering alcoholic. ``It is fitting and overdue that this facility be named after him.''

Hooper's fighting and leadership during an encounter in February 1968 has become legend. During a frantic battle he single-handedly stormed bunkers and other enemy positions, dragged wounded American soldiers to safety, rescued others and re-organized the company, all while being wounded.

He won the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, for his part in the battle. During his 18 months of combat he also earned two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry and several other citations.

But after 1975, Hooper fought a losing battle with his posttraumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.