Ronny's Story
During the summer of 2017, to honor the brave brothers he had lost, Ron Ymbras—a combat veteran of the 1/502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division—lugged a large, green-painted stone bearing 18 handwritten names and their sacrifices, up a steep and formidable mountainside to it's top.
Under normal circumstances, that hike would have been an unremarkable trek for Ron—a simple climb up a moderate hill. However, stuffing a 22-pound stone into his pack made the ascent a demanding, challenging endeavor. Sharp elevation changes transformed what should have been a manageable effort into a strenuous endurance contest. Regardless, Ron carried that heavy rock up that hill and placed it with great honor among the thousands of others at Popolopen Torne Monument, New York.
May 20th, 2024. Seven years later—weathered by wind, rain, sun and snow, and understandably buried beneath countless stones added to the monument—the rock was still there. A group of three had set out to uncover that green painted stone and place it back at the top of the pile, where the sun could shine on it once again.
Fallen Never Forgotten
From 1967 to 1968, Ronny served in the harsh and unforgiving terrain of Southeast Asia. where a point ambush claimed the lives of 18 of his infantry brothers and left him severely wounded. He eventually returned to the United States and stepped away from the Army, but the memories of those fallen brothers have never left him.
The top of the summit of the Popolopen Torne Trail boasts a tall, proud flagpole. At the top of that flagpole flies the American flag. At its feet lies a 22-pound stone, painted green and marked with the words “Fallen Never Forgotten”. The backside of that stone bears the names of the 18 brothers he lost in the jungles of Vietnam March 26, 1968.
A poignant tribute to their courage and camaraderie.
" Torne Monument "
Trail of the Fallen
May 20, 2024
"You won't need to change outta your slides, cuz, they should be okay. It's just a little trail up ... No sweat. Easy up and down."
Over an hour later, after navigating sections of the Popolopen Torne Trail—in places a steep 15% vertical climb, while using a rope from time to time to scramble over occasional boulders—the mission was finally accomplished. My feet were bruised, we were drenched in sweat, but we were victorious
Honorable note: Adidas flip-flops proved to be a less-than-ideal choice of hiking footwear for this particular adventure.
"Torne Monument" stands near the Hudson River, adjacent to West Point, New York. At the summit of Timp-Torne Mountain the American flag flies above an immense cairn; multicolored stones of all shapes and sizes; flags, dog tags, photos, and other tributes to fallen service members. Veterans and patriotic visitors often make the pilgrimage to this peak to honor the fallen—some place a stone or memento in memory of a lost brother or sister, others arrive simply to find a moment of quiet reflection.
On that day, we searched for the stone Ronny had placed there so many years before. It needed to be brought back into the light, offered another prayer, and then gently laid to rest once more.
mute
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