Ronny Cowart

Ronny Cowart enlisted in the Navy in March 1966 and served for three years.

As a machine gunner assigned to a riverine monitor gunboat operating in the Mekong Delta, he took part in heavy engagements alongside elements of the 9th Infantry Division near the village of Can Tho on July 15, 1968. During the fighting, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the boat, wounding him and another crew member with shrapnel. Suffering significant blood loss, he was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital ship for treatment before returning to his unit. His injuries were later recognized as qualifying combat wounds, earning him the Purple Heart.

Along with his Purple Heart, SN Cowart received the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Achievement Medal with Combat “V,” and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Married and the father of two children, SN Cowart continued a distinguished life of public service after leaving the Navy by joining the Dallas Police Department, where he served on the Tactical/SWAT team. In 1985, he was selected by the mayor and chief of police to serve as the city’s liaison to the Asian refugee community in East Dallas. He secured a Meadows Foundation grant to open a police storefront in the neighborhood and hired and trained bilingual public service officers to support refugee families. Cowart also mobilized Vietnam veterans as volunteers and, with the help of his wife Melinda, founded the Blue Dragons Law Enforcement Explorer Post, which installed hundreds of peepholes and smoke alarms in refugee homes. His efforts helped establish some of the first citizenship ceremonies ever held within a refugee community in the United States. The couple received the 1010th Point of Light Award from President George H.W. Bush for their work with the Blue Dragons Explorer Post.