The Veteran: WWII, Korea, Vietnam

Rick Turton - Vietnam 1970-1971

by Rick Turton

The other day, I was sitting in a Costco waiting for my family to arrive. 

I saw an older gentleman come in, wearing a black baseball cap that had “World War II, Korea and Vietnam Veteran” embroidered on it.

An Impressive Hat ...

Being a Vietnam Vet myself, I struck up a conversation with him. “Wow!” I said, “That’s a pretty impressive hat!”

He replied, (with no small amount of pride), “I signed on in Oakland, California, in 1943, as a Marine.  I was at Guadalcanal, the Philippines, and finally, I was in Occupied Japan. 

I spent eighteen months in Korea and I did two tours in Vietnam. I was a Drill Sergeant at Perris Island. I finally got out after thirty years!"

We played the “where were you stationed” game for a while and then he said, “You know, the Marines are a close-knit group. You’ll run across your friends several times during your time in. I made some life-long friends in World War II that I met in Korea, too. I buried most of them during Vietnam, though. 

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I survived. I finally got the answer when I found out that my wife of thirty years had cancer. My job was to take care of her. She died last spring.” 

With that thousand yard stare, he paused, eyes welling up a bit, remembering. ”Like everything else,” he said, “I saw it through to the end.”



“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale

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