Birthday present nearly 40 years in the making

In August 1970, while serving as the side-gunner on a Bell UH1C Huey helicopter in his third tour of Vietnam, Burl DuBose was shot down. The helicopter landed on his left shoulder, burying him under the wreckage and pinning him almost completely under water.

"I got my head above water to get deep breaths, and I could feel the leeches getting on me, and I thought this isn't good. I used my other arm to dig down and try to slide my left arm out," DuBose said. "In the process, I lost my class ring and my graduation watch."

He made it back to the states and got on with his life, along the way riding in rodeos, driving motorcycles, and drag-racing cars. He got married and had kids, then became a grandfather.

But he never forgot the ring his mother had bought for him.

Then, with the help of a women he had never met, DuBose's wife, Debby, gave him back his ring, 36 years after he left the first one in Vietnam.

"My mother bought me that ring. I was going to buy it, and she told me no," DuBose said after opening the box containing the replacement ring. "Surprise doesn't begin to describe this."

The ring - comprised of a large blue stone and DuBose's school letters flanked by his initials - was an exact copy of the one that accompanied him through his senior year of high school in Mount Shasta, Calif.

Mary Yoshisako, herself a Vietnam-era vet, heard DuBose's story from his wife and decided something had to be done. After calling the high school, Yoshisako was told the ring maker was making a replacement free of charge.

"Thank you for being here and making this country safe," Yoshisako told DuBose.

He is the oldest of five brothers, whose father died when DuBose was 16. As the oldest surviving male relative, he would have been exempted from the draft, but he volunteered to became a member of the 101st Airborne, before signing on as a helicopter gunner.

DuBose said he wanted to serve his country, and would do so if given the chance again. But his intention was never to be seen as a hero.

"All I wanted to do was do my part, come home, and be a productive citizen," DuBose said. "I'm no hero, by a long shot. Most of the heroes I know are dead; they gave the ultimate sacrifice.

DuBose is scheduled to return to Mount Shasta on Wednesday, where he will officially receive the ring from the Shasta County school board and board of supervisors and be honored for his service to his country.

As for the ring, it didn't take long to make it onto his finger.

"I won't take it off. I won't lose this one," DuBose vowed.

• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.