MSG (Ret.) Joseph Vernon Powell, 67, passed away at a Killeen nursing home,
August 29, 2011. Mr. Powell was born April 27, 1944, to Vincent and Mary Powell
in Kansas City, Missouri. He married Somjit Boonpan on April 10, 1972 at
the American Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Mr. Powell retired from the U. S. Army in 1991 as a Master Sergeant. He served during the Vietnam conflict and received the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal (8th award), National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 2 silver and 2 bronze service stars, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon Numeral 6, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Badge with Palm, Expert Rifle Badge, and the Army Achievement Medal.
Mr. Powell was deeply committed to his fellow service members, especially to those who had faced and were struggling to deal with Post-Traumatic Stress. Following his retirement from the U.S. Army, Mr. Powell completed his bachelors’ degree and then completed a Masters in Social Work (MSW). He then committed the rest of his professional life to working with veterans and Wounded Warriors at the Austin Vet Center.
Mr. Powell is preceded in death by his parents, one daughter, Tassanee Carver, and a sister, Cathy Wilson.
Survivors include his wife of 39 years, Somjit; one daughter, Varnee Baney;
one son, Sakda Powell; five brothers, Jerry Powell of Raleigh, NC; Bill Powell
of Bella Vista, AR; Brian Powell of Los Fresnos, TX; Mike Powell of Fresno, CA;
Patrick Powell, of Tijuana, Mexico; two sisters, Alice Pita of Houston; TX; and
Maria Norton of Logan, UT; one granddaughter, Kathleen Kile of Virginia and
Chawarat Boonpan of Thailand.
In lieu of flowers, please make
donations to the Wounded Warrior Project, donorservices@woundedwarriorproject.org
– or call 877-832-6997.
1 comment:
A friend who has served in the military reviewed Uncle Joe's accomplishments & wrote, "Mary, your uncle was a Master Sergeant; that is a E8 paygrade, second highest enlisted rank in the Army. He also had a very impressive military career!" He then went on to share info about each of the awards Joe received. I replied...
Terrence, I didn't get a chance to absorb all you shared, last night. I didn't realize my uncle had earned the second highest enlisted rank. Thank you for sharing your perspective that his military career was impressive.
I knew he'd been in Vietnam. So, some of the awards he was given mean his service was honorable, faithful, of very high quality, and worthy of praise. His marksmanship was of the highest grade. He had sustained acts of heroism and accomplished deeds of valor, overseas, in a combat zone, during a time of national emergency. Wow.
Did you see that my uncle's sacrifice likely saved my dad's life, allowing me to be born & my father to be whole?
(http://marymaddux.blogspot.com/2011/11/uncle-joe-my-dads-brother.html)
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