Jim Aanonsen — known by his buddies in Vietnam as “Tiny” — was raised in West Brighton, a town on Long Island, New York. In 1967 he graduated from Port Richmond High School. By April 1969 he was drafted and shipped to Fort Gordon, Georgia for Basic Training and Advanced Infantry Training. October 1969 found Tiny Aanonsen in Vietnam, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and, more importantly, to Alpha Company, 2/506th Infantry, where he served in the First Platoon as a machine gunner.
By March 1970, Alpha Company was under the leadership of Captain Burkhardt, and First Platoon had a new lieutenant in Dudley Davis. Under these leaders, Jim participated in the first attempt to secure Firebase Ripcord on March 12, 1970. It was a bad day for Alpha Company — Lieutenant Davis and his RTO Dan Heater were lost, and numerous others were wounded.
“After Ripcord was secured in April we didn’t see a lot of contact till we hit the hot LZ in May.” — Jim Aanonsen
By that time his platoon leader was Lieutenant Wilcox. On May 13th, Alpha Company combat assaulted onto a hot LZ southeast of Ripcord. The firing had quit by the time the last choppers came in. After securing the area, hot chow was flown in for the evening meal.
As dawn edged its way over the trees on the morning of May 14th, the troops loaded with three days’ worth of food and water and prepared to head out. Captain Burkhart had First Platoon lead in column toward the southwest. Bob Lowe of Ohio and Jim Aanonsen had become friends on the flight over to Vietnam — as luck would have it, they ended up assigned to the same company and platoon.
That morning Bob was the point man with Jim following close behind as slack man as they moved down the trail. They hadn’t gone 200 yards when an enemy sniper in a bunker shot and killed Lowe. In the ensuing firefight, Tiny brought his machine gun to bear on the enemy and in the process mowed down trees and bushes throughout the area while his comrades moved behind him. He continued to provide continuous suppressive fire as Sergeant Koger crawled up to retrieve Lowe’s body. In the short but furious battle, shrapnel wounded Jim in the arm, shoulder, and leg.
When the fight was over he was medevaced back to Camp Evans, then to the USS Sanctuary, then to a hospital in Japan, and finally to St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens, New York. His courage and gallantry under fire — in spite of his wounds — earned him the Silver Star. After a lengthy recovery he spent his last eight months in the service on an honor guard at Fort Totten, also in Queens.
Following his Army tour, Jim joined the New York City Police Department, where he served 12 years at the Midtown North Precinct and another 11 years in the Manhattan Emergency Service Unit. That final assignment dealt with rescues, hostage situations, jumpers, and assisting the bomb squad. After 23 years of service, he retired in 1996.
When he reported for duty, Irene Hyde — his future wife — spotted him and decided this might be a man worth knowing. Since she also worked for the police department she had an easy time checking him out, and after that he was hers, even if he did not know it at the time. They have been married for over 25 years, still live on Staten Island, and have two grown daughters.
