Tris Rude
Era: Persian Gulf
Military Branch: Army
Mr. Rude served in the Persian Gulf War.
He enlisted in the National Guard in February of 1990. He was assigned to Duluth’s 109th Light Equipment Maintenance Company.
Mr. Rude graduated from Central High School in 1979.
Source: Duluth News Tribune July 4, 1991 (see below)
“Tris Rude said he’s thankful for his second chance.
The 30-year old Duluth man joined the regular Army in 1985. He worked with tanks and helped train other soldiers at Fort Irwin, California, to fight the Soviets.
Two years later, he was discharged. “Kicked out, he said, for drinking and other offenses.
In February 1990, he decided to try again. He joined the National Guard and became a member of Duluth’s 109th Light Equipment Maintenance Company.
“I joined what they call “Try One. So you just serve a year. It was a heck of a year to try it.”
In October, the unit left for Saudi Arabia for six months of service during Operation Desert Storm. Its mission was to repair radios and other electric gadgets in the gulf. Members mostly sorted mail, picked up garbage and filled sand bags, though. They returned to Duluth in April.
“It makes you feel good that so many people cared about what was going on over there and how it affects you,” said Rude, who feels his service in the Guard also has been a time of personal healing.
“This was an amends for myself. O wanted to prove to myself that I could do this without screwing up again,” he said. “I think I’ve gotten a lot of rewards out of it. I’m really fortunate.
The time in the gulf was difficult, he said. His grandmother worried so much she had a hard time talking to him on the telephone. To get through it, she picked out a bright star in the eastern sky and called it a Tris-star.” As long as she could see that, things would be all right.
And they were. The country’s success in the war spelled produced immense patriotism and provided a new beginning for Rude, a 1979 graduate of Central High School in Duluth.
“I have a deep respect for our country and our way of life. I want to be able to defend that,” said Rude, the assistant manager of a gas station on London Road.
“A lot of people think, “Gee you did such an amazing thing over there,” I never thought about it as anything amazing. We just did what we were trained to do.”
Sometimes that’s enough.”
