Steven’s Story: 

Steven Donald Watts was born in Portland Oregon on February 25th, 1949. He died August 22nd, 2021. Steve was a true, one-of-a-kind hero and an absolute patriot. He often said, "I wrote a check payable to my country, up to and including my life." At the young age of eighteen, Steve enlisted in the United States Army to serve in Vietnam. Stationed in Bearcat near Saigon, Steve served as a Crew Chief and Door Gunner with the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, which were known as the Mad Dogs. Throughout the Vietnam War, the entire 240th Assault Helicopter Company served with honor, bravery, and distinction. Steve was no exception! His highest medal was The Distinguished Flying Cross. Steve was also awarded 3 Purple Hearts.

In January of 1968, Steve was performing an extraction mission to evacuate the crew of another helicopter. After three "gun runs", Steve was hit with shrapnel from incoming fire. They successfully recovered the other crew, and Steve was awarded his first Purple Heart. In May of 1968, Steve volunteered to participate in a legendary battle to rescue a Special Forces team, and Green Beret Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez from behind enemy lines. During the battle, Steve was hit by gunfire, but continued the fight. For his participation, he was awarded The Distinguished Flying Cross for Valor in arial combat, and a second Purple Heart.  In June of 1969, while preforming morning reconnaissance over the delta, a "projectile came through the door", resulting in one of those "million dollar wounds" (aka, took one in the keister), thus earning his third Purple Heart. Awards aside, Steve loved flying over the white sandy beaches, and occasional arial deer hunting. At some time during the summer of 1968, Steve's bird suffered a mechanical failure causing the tail to hit a tree. The helicopter flipped, circled, and crashed. Fortunately there were no casualties, but from this incident, an iconic picture was captured of Steve signaling to another aircraft.

Steven served three tours before returning home to Portland. Steven became a union tile setter, and was active in the motorcycling community, where he was tagged with the nickname "Mad Dog Watts". He served as Sergeant At Arms for the Sunset Chapter of H.O.G. He was an avid supporter of any event or fundraiser that supported Veterans. This revision may not be final, because I have decided to write the following as myself, rather than as an objective third party. A third party might just stick to the facts, but I loved Steve like the father I never had, and it felt to me like he was my own personal hero. In my heart I know that many people knew the hero he was, but to me and to my wife Lisa... his loss is at times unbearable. I didn't meet Steve, until about 10 years before his passing. Steve was part of my H.O.G. Chapter, and he had a good riding buddy at the time named Marc Gibson. When Marc was lost in a motorcycle accident, my wife Lisa and I decided that Steve needed new riding partners, so we wedged ourselves into his life. From then on, Steve joined us for every riding trip, every vacation, every holiday, every birthday, and we became mutually adopted family.

In 2017, Steve had part of a lung removed. We knew he was too weak to recover alone in his home, so we convinced him to live with us so we could nurse him back to health. Our final big trip during the summer of 2019, with Steve, me, Lisa, Bob Driscoll, and Soo Baek was epic. We covered 8 states, 12 National Parks, and 3000 miles over 28 days.  During the trip, Steve showed the first signs of the cancer that would eventually conquer him, but diagnosis was still a ways off. By March 2020, Covid was coming around, and again we convinced Steve to come live in our bubble. By June of 2020, Steve was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer. We and many of his friends were determined to help him through his fight, regardless of the prognosis, and he spent his remaining time well cared for in home hospice. At the age of 72, Steven succumbed to his final battle. He passed from this world in a loving embrace, surrounded by people who honored him. He was laid to rest with Honors at Willamette National Cemetery, with hundreds of mourners attending to bear witness to his passing.

Selfishly, I still think I lost my own personal hero.

Russell Hayes

Trustee of the Steven D Watts Living Trust