Noland Turner was
born September 26, 1946 in Paris Kentucky to Millard
H and Martha Mae Durham Turner. In October of 1965 Noland
received his draft notice for the United States Army.
Instead of following the draft Noland decided to enlist
in the military on his own free will and joined the
Marines. After failing to report to the Army base, the
Army sent officials to Noland's parents' house to pick
him up. They were not happy to know he had enlisted
in the Marines. He commenced training on December 30,
1965 in the Second Battalion, Platoon 2041 in San Diego,
California. He graduated from boot camp on February
28, 1966. Although most of the men in the Platoon had
orders to go to Vietnam, Noland did not receive orders
to go. Noland was one of the top two in his class and
they needed him to teach the other trainees. He put
in a request to go to Vietnam five times before they
finally sent him. It took about ten months for his requests
to go through. In 1966 he was sent to An Khe with the
Force Recon as the radio man. After a month Noland was
ordered home to teach Basic Electronics as they were
severely short of teachers. He taught in San Diego,
California Marine Corp Recruit Depo and in Beauford,
South Carolina at the Marine Corp Air Station. In November
1968 Noland went from Active Military to the inactive
Marine Reserves and served until 1971.
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