AUSTIN Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dr. Dawn Buckingham on Friday introduced the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB’s Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, they highlight the service of Sergeant Corby Vinson who served in U.S. Army and completed three service tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Vinson was born in Frankfurt, Germany. His father was in the military, so his family moved every few years. Vinson enlisted in the U.S. Army after he graduated high school and worked in Air Defense as a Stinger Gunner, lived in the Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii and participated in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.
Vinson spent seven years out of the military but went back into service after the September 11th terrorist attacks. He was stationed in Baghdad, Afghanistan during his first tour of duty. When looking back at his first tour, Vinson emphasized the naivety with which he and his fellow soldiers entered battle. His first combat experience taught him the “harsh reality of warfare,” which he would continue to learn.
Every day, the men faced deadly IEDs (improvised explosive devices) buried under roads. After loosing their medic to a 500lb roadside bomb, the men visited the lone survivor of the explosion in the hospital. Vinson remembers a nurse attempting to comfort him as he thought “What are we gonna do? I mean, we’re only three months in and we’ve lost almost half our platoon. What are we gonna do?” Vinson said “It was an eye-opening experience. It was very humbling.”
During his second tour of duty, Vinson had more experience but faced different challenges. The soldiers faced highly trained snipers and EFPs (explosively forced projectiles). The men didn’t have any defense that could stop the deadly EFPs.
Despite the dangerous environment, Vinson and his fellow soldiers went and talked to people face to face, throughout entire neighborhoods and learned about them. The trust that grew allowed the soldiers to gain information about the enemy. They built a relationship with the locals, even being invited to dinner.
“That tour, I was proud of that one. I was proud… to be that close to the belly of the beast and be respected by the locals… As hard as it was, looking back, that’s the one I’m most proud of.”
His third and final tour revealed an entirely different side of the military. Vinson saw beautiful cities and ate at five-star restaurants while driving for military “VIPs.”
Vinson said that he experienced Post Traumatic Stress and depression after leaving the service. When he became a CNA some of that darkness lifted, and he found purpose and strength in helping others. When he began his current position as the Admissions Director at the William R. Courtney Texas State Veterans Home in Temple, Texas, Vinson knew he was settling in the right place.
“I knew these are my people… I love it. The company’s great. Touchstone is great… the building is just fantastic. The people are fantastic, so it’s an overall great experience.”
Click here to listen to Sergeant Corby Vinson tell his story.
