"Papa Guns" Retires After 30 Years

I read this article and was impressed:

The first time he retired from the Marine Corps, Master Gunnery Sgt. Kendall Phelps simply wasn’t ready to go.

But the military declared that the Vietnam veteran had served his time, with his two years of active duty and 28 years in the Marine Corps Reserve. And though his family still jokes that you could see the claw marks where he had hung on to the brick Reserve Center in Topeka, Phelps faced the reality of retirement.

Then came the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Phelps, known affectionately to his fellow Marines as “Papa Guns,” wanted to serve again. “It was just something I had to do,” he says.

He eventually would go, even serving in the same unit as his son. Their story made news worldwide.

Read the rest here.

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