Don Dixon in US Army

I asked Uncle Don to send me a photo and some more info on his service in the Army. He had mentioned it in an email several years ago, but wanted to get some more info as I added a label for family veterans in the blog. He didn’t have a picture, but gave me some more info.

“Finished college in 1955 and a 5th year thesis program in June/1956 and during this time I was exempt from the US draft program. Following my education I was then eligible for the draft and I received my draft letter in September 1956 and had to go in the army in Oct. 1956. Had basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. After basic training I was scheduled to go to Korea but at the last minute that order was cancelled and I remained at Ft. Leonard Wood. I helped coordinate the summer training of the National Guard and ROTC units. Was discharged Oct. 1958 and then had to serve two years of active reserve and two years of inactive reserve to complete my 6 year requirement.”

The armistice was signed July 27, 1953 setting up the “DMZ” or demilitarized zone. No peace agreement was ever signed. We know that things have been tense at the border as soldiers can literally see each other across the line and we have had troops in place continuously since. Interesting that troops were essentially placed on hold in the reserves just in case active war broke out again. So to put the timeline into perspective, he was still in the reserves after I turned 6 years old and was playing war games with my cousins at family picnics. Uncle Don always stayed in pretty good shape. I wonder if he could still fit into that uniform?