{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=8779A811-3272-4DC4-9E7C-C78D2F4BF877", "Boozman Shares Service Memories of Natural State Army Veteran", "2023-08-22", "2023", "2023-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2013 U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) recognized the service and sacrifice of Ronald Madsen in \u2018Salute to Veterans,\u2019 a series recognizing the military service of Arkansans.\n\nMadsen grew up in Minnesota. His family had no history of military service so he didn\u2019t know how they would react when he was drafted. \u201cThey probably weren\u2019t happy about me getting drafted, but I was working with my dad at the time and what needed to be done I had to do,\u201d he said.\n\nHis parents drove him to Minneapolis to take his oath of enlistment at the armory before boarding a bus to begin his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in 1953. Madsen was in good physical condition and knew how to use weapons from hunting back home, so there was some familiarity.\n\nHe recollected being in a movie theater when the film was interrupted to announce the end of the Korean War.\n\nAlthough the war was ending, he continued training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia for two months of schooling in heating and ventilation. He was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington before leaving for Japan the day after Thanksgiving.\n\nMadsen said his ship was filled with servicemembers along with women and children whose husbands and fathers were stationed in Japan.\n\nHe was on guard duty on the deck one afternoon and had quite the surprise. \u201cA flying fish came up and landed on the deck. The crew had never seen that before,\u201d he laughed.\n\nWhen Madsen first landed in Japan, he went to Camp Drake where he stayed until Christmas. Then he continued south to Busan, South Korea where he was stationed for 16 months.\n\nHe was assigned to a construction engineer battalion where he and his fellow soldiers were tasked with projects including outdoor construction building water towers and digging ditches. He recalled converting an old building constructed by the Japanese into a new hospital. Madsen said he was able to use a lot of the skills he had gained from his two months in school. However, after only six months with the construction group, he was reassigned to the mess hall.\n\n\u201cI got offered to be in the mess hall which I took them up on because it\u2019s much nicer duty. You went in at noon to help serve the meal then you fix the supper and come back in the morning to fix breakfast and fix dinner then you\u2019re off again. You had better duty and no outside cold and wet,\u201d he said.\n\nMadsen remembered how his fellow servicemembers all ate well, and there were many local citizens who baked desserts and helped with KP (kitchen patrol) duty.\n\nWhen his deployment ended, Madsen resumed working with his father as a plumber. Soon after, he married Betty, a nurse he met while his mother was hospitalized. They were married for 64 years.\n\nMadsen said he remembered being treated nicely when he returned home and even though his military service interrupted his life for a time, he was glad he had the opportunity to serve the country and \u201cdo what was necessary.\u201d\n\nHe retired from his plumbing job when he was 65 and moved to Bella Vista where he has lived for the last 24 years.\n\n\u201cServing in our nation\u2019s uniform impacts the lives of servicemembers and their families. I am grateful to Ronald Madsen for his service and selflessness to defend our country and interests. Preserving his memories for the Veterans History Project is a great way to show our appreciation for his service,\u201d Boozman said.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:31:44Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=8779A811-3272-4DC4-9E7C-C78D2F4BF877"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3867239467799664, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}