Donald Baldwin was honored as Veteran of the Month, recognized June 25 at the Seward County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Baldwin was drafted into the Army in 1953 at the height of the Korean War.
At the time he was drafted, he was in his second year of college at Nebraska Wesleyan, where he was studying to get a degree in secondary education.
He was sent to Ft. Riley, Kansas, for 16 weeks of basic training. He was to be trained for the Army Infantry and was to be immediately shipped off to the war at the conclusion of basic training.
About eight weeks into training, things changed. The Korean Armistice Agreement had been signed by President Dwight Eisenhower earlier in the year and drastic changes were made. Deployments overseas were halted, effectively ushering in peace and changing the need for soldiers being sent to war.
Many troops were cut from the U.S. military and remaining soldiers trained for war were reassigned to other duties.
Baldwin finished his training and instead of going to war, was assigned to an Anti-Aircraft Battery outside of Detroit, Michigan. The location of this base was in Ecorse, Michigan. There, he was assigned with no more than 45 other men at this small base tasked with around-the-clock protection of military assets in Detroit.
He finished his time in the service at that base and was honorably discharged in 1955. He has no regrets about his time in service and saw his service as an honor.
