Ronald J. Evans, Jr., 32°
4257 Parkhurst Lane, Spring Hill, Florida 34608-3543
Rj_evans@hotmail.com

The author recalls the loss of a Masonic ring during the invasion of Kuwait in 1991.

Current events in the Middle East, especially United States and Allied Forces involvement in Iraq, have reminded me of a personal war story. Somewhere in northern Saudi Arabia, just prior to the Kuwait invasion in 1991, I was assigned to the 16th M.P. Brigade Airborne, as a member of the 320th Military Police Company. I remember a day when a hot meal was served. Several companies, including mine, were in a very long chow line. Several hundred sand-worn U.S. soldiers wearing or holding their helmets, gear, and weapons formed a line which snaked around the desert. Approximately in the middle of the line was a large plastic water barrel on its side. There a soldier could hurriedly rinse his hands in an attempt to get the sand from between his fingers.

When it was my turn, I remember removing my gold Masonic ring from my left ring finger, as I was single then, and placing it on the water barrel. I then quickly gathered my weapon and gear to proceed through the line. I received my meal, found a place to sit, and ate. Afterwards, I walked back to the MP camp to catch some sleep since I had a 12-hour shift coming up as a convoy escort. I rose at 6:00 am the following day, worked the entire shift, and got back to the company exhausted. After taking off my helmet, gear, holster, boots, and watch, I noticed my Masonic ring was not on my finger. I immediately remembered placing it on the water tank the day before. Since several hundred soldiers were behind me in line, I figured it was gone.

Several days later, I had an opportunity while on patrol to drive back to the other side of the dune, to somewhat the same area where the chow line had been. The wind had swept over the sand, and there were no tracks of any vehicles or soldiers-just a vast surrounding desert. I walked and kicked at the sand for several hundred yards, wondering where that chow line and water barrel could have been. Just as I decided my search was hopeless, the sun glinted off the ring and into my right eye. There, about six feet away, I saw my ring partially buried. I ran to pick it up, blew the sand off it, and put it back on my finger.

Thirteen years later, I still have the ring. It is showing some wear, and the gold in the ring may be worth only $30, but to me the ring is a miracle and a priceless treasure.

Ronald J. Evans, Jr. was raised in Dunedin Masonic Lodge No. 192 in Dunedin, Florida, in 1989 and is currently a member of Masonic Lodge No. 375 in Spring Hill, Florida. He served as Worshipful Master of Sugarland Masonic Lodge No. 281 in Clewiston, Florida, in 1998, is a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Ft. Myers, Florida, and a Noble of Egypt Shrine Temple in Tampa. Bro. Ron is a State Trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol, currently assigned at the Land O'Lakes Barracks in Pasco County, Florida.