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On June 10, 1969, John Noel was on a bus to Butte, Montana, courtesy of an invitation letter from the President. He was inducted into the Army on June 11 and immediately shipped out by bus to Fort Ord, California. John looked around when he got off the bus and thought, “Wow, this isn’t going to be a good time.”   On the second day, he got his head shaved, military-issued clothes and shots and was loaded into an open-top cattle truck. When the truck stopped, John saw huge, meaty hands come over the side of the truck and someone shouted, “Get of my ******* truck!” This was when he met Sergeant Ellis, who was a loud, in-your-face, assistant drill sergeant....

MONTANA — At least three separate groups are organizing to legalize recreational marijuana in Montana on the 2020 ballot, a process complicated by rules regarding citizen initiatives, expense and a peculiarity of the state constitution. The groups are taking varied approaches to getting their initia...

Turn on your tap and chances are clean drinking water will start to flow but that isn’t the case for everyone. Shelley Cleverdon discovered a limited water supply in Morocco while on vacation in 2016 and the decision to help changed her life. She said the landscape on the north side of Africa was be...

When John Fay was in high school, he decided college was not for him. He also wanted to see more of the world besides Ronan, so he was interested when the military recruiter came to his high school. His dad and other relatives had been in the Navy. His dad said, in the Navy, you get three meals and a dry bed...

Chris Dawson’s decision to join the military was pretty easy.  The Los Angeles, California, judge gave him three days to decide: either join up or put on handcuffs. He joined the Navy. On Feb. 14, 1965, Chris was sent to the San Diego, California, Naval Training Center, unit 143 for 12 weeks. B...

When Sharline decided to join the military and spoke with the recruiter in Kalispell, she checked out all branches of service. Out of defiance, she didn’t want the Army, Coast Guard or Marines because her family had joined them. She wanted something different. At the time, the Navy offered benefits for...

(Editor’s note: This series of articles honors our Veterans of Foreign Wars as they share their military service experiences with the community. This 46th article is about John Moon.)   John Moon’s military career started in 1966 at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where two y...

While living his life, Geof adheres to several mottos. The most important is, “Take care of my family.” He came to the United States with his wife as a teacher. After several jobs in education and other occupations, he decided he really wanted to work in the medical field.  He wanted a good ...

In 1967, Allen Corneliusen left home to go to Butte, Montana, which is where he ended up enlisting in the Army for three years. He called home and told his parents what he had done.   As he recalls, he went by train to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he attended about six weeks of basic training. He&rs...

What could a young man do between his junior and senior years in high school? In Russ’s case, he talked his parents into signing permission for him to join the National Guard. They were not horribly thrilled, but joining the military was all he ever wanted to do, so they agreed. Russ told the recruiter...