Lynn Harnden joined the U.S. Army at 18 years old and didn’t walk away from it completely until he was 65 years old. In a career that spanned nearly five decades, the now 78-year-old Harnden fondly recalls his time in the service and is still extremely proud of the time he spent serving his country.

“I grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota,” Harnden said. “I worked and lived hand to mouth, I was pretty poor. And I thought there has got to be something better. So I found out after I got in the National Guard that the Army was a pretty good life. So I opted to become a career soldier and I’m glad I did.”

Being a career serviceman has enabled Harnden to do all kinds of things that he wouldn’t have imagined himself doing as a farm boy in Minnesota. He lived in Germany twice, flew observation routes along the Korean Demilitarized Zone in a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog Airplane. He’s also piloted a Bell UH-1H Helicopter war during two tours in Vietnam and owned a sailboat that he docked in Mission Bay in San Diego.