Howard L. Ball, Jr.
Howard L Ball Jr was born in Council Bluffs in 1949 to Howard Sr. and Freda Ball. He and his brother John were raised there and he graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1967. Following a year of junior college in Iowa, Howard enlisted in the US Marine Corps in the summer of 1968.
He atteneded boot camp training at MCRD San Diego, California. In January of 1969, he was shipped to Vietnam, where he was a member of a Marine heavy mortar crew at An Hoa, South Vietnam. Howard was with the First Marine Division and served as a forward observer for 155’s in the Arizona Territory.
While in Vietnam Howard was treated for malaria. His base compound was attacked one night and as shells were falling, luckily his only injury was a broken finger.
He ended his tour of duty in Vietnam at the end of 1969 and received his honorable discharge in 1970.
Using the VA Bill, he completed his college degree at the University of Northern Colorado in communications. In 1980, he married his wife Sharleen in Brush, Colorado. Together they adopted and raised two children, both of whom are married. They have three wonderful grandchildren.
Howard spent time working the oil fields in Wyoming and Colorado in the 1970s. Then he switched gears and began working for communications companies.
Upon retirement, he focused his energy on veteran’s causes. He worked as a mentor for the Veteran’s Treatment Court in Omaha. He was one of the founders of this beautiful Nebraska Vietnam Memorial and worked tirelessly to see it come to fruition. His dream was to walk through this memorial upon its completion. Though he passed on November 14, 2021 prior to the memorial’s completion, some of Howard’s ashes will remain here forever in the base of the Marine Corps flag. Howard’s name is also on a bench adjacent to the Marine Corps flag.
Semper Fi
