For Gary Clemon, joining the Iowa National Guard was the right choice. He married his wife, Diann, in 1965. The plan was for to go her to school while he worked. Since he lost his student deferment, he joined the Iowa National Guard in 1965.

In 1968, Clemon’s unit was called for activate duty.

“A lot of people don’t realize this, but there was only one small unit activated for duty in Iowa,” Clemon said. “There was about 900 of us activated out of the state. We didn’t go as a unit, like they do now. About half of us were sent to Vietnam.”