Posted by Jose Andres "Andy" Chacon on March 7, 2006:

Lieutenant. Colonel. Jose LeRoy Chacon, United States Army (Retired) Born December 17, 1931 - Died March 3, 2006 Jose LeRoy Chacon was born at Penasco New Mexico on 17 December 1931 to Emilia Martinez y Griego and Gregorio Chacon y Baca and is a great-grandchild of the legendary Civil War hero Major Rafael Chacon y Lopez who commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Valverde, south of Socorro, New Mexico in 1861. He graduated from Penasco High School, in 1949 and was appointed to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York in 1950. On graduation he went in the Infantry and attended the Basic Infantry Officers Course, the Airborne Course, the Jump Master Course, and the Ranger Course at Ft. Benning. He came home to Penasco and married Flora Mascarenas. He was then assigned to Headquarters, 8th Infantry Division from 1956 to 1958 and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal on completion of that tour. He served on the United States Army Infantry Board from 1961 to 1963 and at United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). His next assignment was as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Marmion Military Academy in Aurora, Illinois. In 1968 he attended the Command and General Staff Course at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. His next assignment was to U.S. Army School for the Americas, Fort Gullick, Panama. He then went to the Defense Language Institute at Monterey, CA to learn Vietnemese, and then back to MACV for a second tour in Vietnam until 1972. He was awarded the Legion of Merit on completion of that assignment. His assignments, in reverse order, were: Jul 72 thru retirement in April 1976- Lieutenant Colonel, US Army assigned as Operations Officer, Office of the Army Inspector General, HQ, Fifth US Army, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, responsible for inspection plans, evaluation criteria, scheduling and coordinating annual general inspections of over 3000 Army National Guard, US Army Reserve, and Regular Army units in the 13 state Fifth US Army area. Aug 72 - May 74 - Inspector General, Fifth US Army. Conducted Annual General Inspections of National Guard, Reserve, and Regular Army units in the Fifth Army area. Also served as escort and interpreter for high ranking Latin American military officers and their wives on tours of the United States. Included among these officers was a former Chief of Staff of the Mexican Army. Oct 71 - July 72 - Deputy Chief of the Joint Liaison Group, Military Assistance Command, South Vietnam. Responsible for liaison on operational as well as logistical matters between US and Vietnamese forces. Had Army, Navy and Air Force officers under his direct supervision. Jose Chacon speaks fluent Vietnamese and was invited as guest lecturer (in Vietnamese) to the Vietnamese Armed Forces Command and General Staff College. Had daily contact with US and Vietnamese General officers and had met either officially or socially almost all general officers in the Vietnamese Armed Forces. July 71 - Oct 71 - Project Officer, Army Concept Team in Vietnam. Prepared plans and studied research and development projects of combat equipment and activities in Vietnam. July 68 - Aug 70 - Director and Instructor of the Command and Staff Department of the US Army School of the Americas in the Panama Canal Zone. Responsible for teaching, in the Spanish language, a 40-week Command and General Staff course to high-ranking military officers from Latin America. Students under Jose Chacon later became presidents of two Latin American countries. Frequently served as escort and interpreter for high-ranking military and civilian officials visiting the Panama Canal Zone. Oct. 64 - Jul 67 - Professor of Military Science and ROTC Instructor, Marmion Military Academy, Aurora, Illinois. Sept 63 - Sept 64 - Served as advisor to a Vietnamese Infantry Battalion in combat and to a training center training South Vietnamese forces for infantry combat. Feb 57 - Aug 60 - Company Commander, Executive Officer, Weapons Platoon Leader, and Platoon Leader of Company A, 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division in the US and Germany. Oct 56 - Feb 57 - Director of Instruction and Assistant Commandant of the 8th Infantry Division, Ft. Carson, Colorado. April 55 - Oct 56 - Platoon Leader and Exective Officer of Company F, 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, Ft. Carson, Colorado. Served as escort and interpreter for several high-ranking military officers from Spain and of several groups from Latin America. His Military Education was: Jun 50 - Jun 54 - United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. Aug 54 - Apr 55 - US Army Infantry School, Ft. Benning Georgia. Infantry Officers Basic Course, Airborne Course, Jumpmaster Course, and Ranger Course. Responsible for interpretation of course material to Spanish speaking students concurrent with his own studies. Aug 67 - May 68 - US Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas July 70 - Jun 71 - Defense Language Institute. Vietnamese Language (Honor graduate) He went into the real estate business in San Antonio, TX, as a a broker and in the course of the last three decades had obtained a number of rental properties, which he owned and managed. On March 3, 2006 he was apparently strangled to death by two brothers on whom he had served a second eviction notice for failure to pay rent. They owed $3,500.00 in rent. They apparently lured him under some pretense and then murdered him in the house. Survivors are his wife Flora; sons David, Larry, and Joe and daughters Teresa, Patty, and Mona. Grandchildren surviving are Adam, Mike, Mattie, Zoe, Ryan and Scott. Also surviving are his brothers Jose Andres, Mardoqueo, Gregorio, and Pedro and their respective families.

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