Richard L. Hido

Let us not forget Specialist Four Richard Lee Hido, casualty of the Vietnam War. As a member of the Army, SP4 Hido served our country until June 29th, 1966 in South Vietnam. He was 19 years old and was not married. Richard died from small arms fire/grenade. His body was recovered. Richard was born on August 27th, 1946 in Painesville, Ohio.

SP4 Hido is on panel 08E, line 108 of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. He served our country for one year.

Early in the fall of 1965 Richard was in Painesville and called upon my mother who resided in Geneva, Ohio. She told him that I was married. Then she told me that he had been in touch with her and wanted to know about me. I drove to Painesville to find him. Yes, I was married and starting my last year of high school on top of being a mother to my first son. But this was about Richard and nothing else mattered.

As it states above in a memorial to him Richard was not married. Well, he wasn't legally married that's for sure. However, that's not where the story started but ended.

Before my family moved to Geneva, Ohio we lived in Painesville where I was born. We lived on Newell Street and Richard lived only three blocks away. He was an only child. I had three siblings. He was a year older and so much wiser. He taught me to kiss. He taught me to dance. He taught me to trust him.

Richard was an average looking boy with blond hair, steely blue eyes and a sense of humor that was contagious. He always wanted to hold my hand. He loved to talk about school. We spent hours talking about everything and anything. We walked to and from school together. I couldn't wait to leave in the morning to go to school knowing he was waiting on the corner for me. He'd walk to the corner of Jackson and Newell to wait for me. I usually had a sister hanging around, but she got tired of us and would drag behind or run ahead.

One raining day we walked home from school. It was a late spring rain and not cold. We got soaked to the bone. Richard would run ahead to a puddle to splash me and I'd go full force into the puddle in hopes to get him as wet as I could. The rain drizzled down on our faces as we laughed, ran and played.

That was the day he asked me to marry him when we got out of high school. I looked at him in disbelief because it was so unexpected. I think we were probably 12 and 13 years old. He was serious though as when I ran to the next puddle where he was standing he pulled me to him in a hug. I grabbed him around the neck and he twirled me around in the air. There we were in the rain, standing in a puddle soaking wet and he wanted to talk about our future. We were kids. We laughed together and ran down Jackson Street. The other kids had long since gone on home. But as we passed their houses we didn't notice that anyone was watching.

I don't know where my mother was at the time, but by the time I got home the house was empty. Richard had walked me all of the way home. He usually got to the corner and watched me as I went down Newell Street. It was my habit to turn and wave at him until I got in view of the house and then he'd leave his watch. However, that day he came down Newell Street to my house and up the steps. I opened the door and started to push it in when he grabbed me and lifted me up in his arms. He carried me across the threshold and said that one day he would do it for real. He told me that we'd be married and have a home. He said he knew it would happen just that way, too.

He kissed me and put me down. I stayed in his arms wet to the bone. I smelled him. His wet hair dripped on my face. We smiled at each other and I felt him release me. He touched the side of my face and his hand fit. I didn't back away from his touch, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He left to go home.

Many months were spent with Richard. Then one day he said it was time to get married. I thought he'd lost his mind. But he had arranged a little altar under the willow tree in the wooded area behind Hawley's Florist Shop. He had flowers all over the place. He had some of our trusted friends in attendance, too. There we were in our summer clothes under the willow tree with the sun blazing down through the leaves that made shadows over us. One of his friends read from the Bible something that sounded about right. Then he said we were man and wife. Richard reached over and kissed me. He grabbed me and danced us out from under the willow tree. There wasn't any music playing but we didn't need it.

Richard sang something into my ear. I think he sang a song by Paul Anka. It didn't matter what he was singing. I felt so safe with him. Our friends clapped and danced around, too. It was a scene in my memory that will last forever.

Then we moved away. If he wrote I didn't get any of the letters. I wrote to him, but I don't know if he got them either. Then he got a car and came to find me. I was 16 and involved with what would turn out to be my first husband. But, Richard had moved on, too. He had been with other girls. We talked like old friends do when they get together. Life took over with the birth of my son, school and a new way of living.

Then there was the call from Richard. I had to see him. I was an unhappy young woman with too much responsibility for a 17 year old. I went to his home and he was in the drive washing his car. I stopped on the street and before I could get out of the car he was at my side. I followed him to his car and we were together on the road. He was driving and I had no idea where we were going. Hours passed like minutes as we were talking non stop. He had enlisted in the army. He had been in basic training and was going to go to Viet Nam.

He didn't care if I was married. He said we had to get married and now. I told him it was impossible and we laughed at the circumstance. There wasn't enough time to do what we really wanted to do with our lives. I had obligations, he had obligations, too. Then he swung the car out of state. We were married by a justice of the peace. We spent the night as newlyweds. Then we tearfully parted.

I went back to living a life that was a sham. He left to his death. It is true that Richard was not legally married as we lied through the whole thing. I did divorce the first husband and waited. Richard didn't come home alive. He did come home and was buried by his mother and father. There were few people at the funeral. I doubt that there are many people that remember Richard Lee Hido. He lives in my memory as a young man that I loved, but never really married.

And so it goes…

Copyright ©2011

Hido, Richard Lee, SP 4