The Texas Standard collected the memories of veterans across the state for Memorial Day 2015.
Doyle Hickerson grew up outside Texarkana, near the Arkansas border. After he was discharged from service following World War II, he met a woman. He got his teaching certificate and joined the ROTC, which paid $1.08 a day. Because he was in the ROTC, he was eligible for service.
“I had already had my home, I had my wife, I had my garden,” he says. “I had been there a month and was called into active duty with the Korean conflict. And that was the most disappointment that I could ever put together to think about.”
Hickerson ended up in Austin in 1951 and thought he’d stay for two years, but he’s been ever since.
Send us your Memorial Day memories on Twitter (@texasstandard) or via email (texasstandard@kut.org).