Name: William Swanson
DOB-DOD: 10/3/51 to 8/14/17
Branch of Service: Marines
Dates of Service: 1969 – 1972
Dog Tag #: 04-2023-02
Honoring a Legacy:
Dad enlisted in the Marines in 1969 at 17 after High School Graduation.
He did basic training at Paris Island, then Camp LeJeune, and at Camp Pendleton. After Basic training, he came home on leave, and he and his Sweetheart, Karlene Keller, got married. Soon after, he was shipped overseas to Vietnam, where he was a lineman. In 1971 he was discharged and returned home and started a family!
Post Service Memorials:
The memory he often said to his son;
Dad said he was going to Vietnam when a Typhoon hit Wake Island. His ship pulled into the island to help rebuild the infrastructure. Here’s a picture of him as a pole lineman helping the island rebuild.
Dad didn’t talk much about his time in Vietnam and what went on there! He had good friends in his small town who also served in Vietnam; I think they would talk about the war privately! They all have passed in the last 10 yrs from cancer from what we believe is caused by agent orange! They were brothers…Semper Fi.