By FRED PETRUCELLI
Log Cabin Staff Writer

Monday, July 16, 2001

Larry Joe Ross was distinguished by nobility and courage in the way he lived and died.

When this Conway National Guardsman was killed in an accident on maneuvers at Fort Chaffee on July 20, 1981, the community lost a friend who had carved out a reputation as a premier citizen involved in many civic causes -- not withstanding his 37 years of age.

He was a doer in life and a hero in death. He gave his life to save a fellow guardsman and left an imprint of himself for all time in that act of unselfish heroism.

Staff Sgt. Larry Joe Ross will be especially remembered on the 20th anniversary of his death by his family and many who fondly recall the attributes of the man who served in diverse ways from the Boy Scouts to the residents of Independent Living Services.

So revered was he that Ross was honored by the National Guard. The names of Ross and of Sgt. 1st Class Tom Selby, a veteran guardsman who died in 1976, were given to the armory that is now known as the Selby-Ross National GuardArmory.

And because Ross was a central figure in the establishment of Independent Living Services, where he served five years as president of its board of directors, a home for developmentally delayed individuals carries his name today at Ross Hall on East German Lane.

"He was one of our best citizens," Paul Ross said of his father. "Not only was he a tremendous asset to our community, he was a good family man."

Fort Chaffee tragedy

On the 20th anniversary of Ross' death, the thoughts of many will revert to a day in 1981 at Fort Chaffee when guardsmen of Conway Troop E, 151st Calvary of the 39th Infantry Brigade were engaged in maneuvers. Ross was commanding a tank in a war games scenario.

The tank crew -- Ross and Spec. 4 Bill Morrow, Spec. 4 Michael Morrow and their father, Sgt. Sterling Morrow -- rolled along exploring the terrain as a force of men and vehicles followed.

It is recalled that Ross and Michael Morrow were riding with their head and shoulders outside the roof of the tank. Ross directed the path of the lumbering vehicle as it proceeded slowly up a 30-degree incline from the bed of a stream.

The elder Morrow was in the gunner's seat and Bill Morrow was driving. At the angle of the tank at this point, the driver could only see white fluffy clouds.

When the tank reached the top of the incline, Ross yelled a warning, sensing that the tank was beginning to roll and a critical situation was imminent.

Russ tried valiantly to push his companion back into the tank as the vehicle rolled. But his effort was fruitless. The men were pitched out and crushed under the tank.

Help was almost instant, but Ross died on the way to the hospital and Morrow suffered grievous injuries.

An investigation by the Guard revealed that a small, steep gully joined the stream bed at the point where the tank had traveled, hidden with high weeds. The tank's left track had reached the edge of the gully and flipped over, landing in the gully.

Ross had in that instant, in an immediate and self-sacrificing act, given up his life attempting to save another.

Ross had commanded armored vehicles and was highly regarded as a top-notch professional soldier. In the aftermath of the accident, the elder Morrow was quoted as saying of Ross, "He was the best I've ever served under and I've served under a lot."

When Ross posthumously received the Soldier's Medal from the president of the United States, the citation that accompanied the award read: "His gallant and courageous efforts, without regard for his own safety, were in keeping with the finest tradition of military service and reflect great credit on him, the National Guard and the United States Army."

The reaction in Conway

The news of Ross' death was met in Conway with mourning and sorrow. Ross had served in the Guard since 1965, specializing in armored vehicles and rifles. In his short life he had filled his ambitions with many acts of civic work.

The Second Baptist Church knew him as an involved individual, as did the Explorer Scouts, the Faulkner County Day School, and the Faulkner County Association of Retarded Children, an organization that tapped him as its president. He also was invaluable as a volunteer fireman and performed as the Easter Bunny for children of all ages.

His death occasioned many letters to the editor of the Log Cabin Democrat and each recalled him as "selfless, dedicated, a credit to his family, his community and his country."

(Staff writer Fred Petrucelli can be reached by phone at 505-1256.)