Washington County, WI – The following experience was penned by Marine veteran John B. Torinus, Jr., of West Bend.
[I was] no wartime hero. I served in the U.S Marine Corps as a lieutenant from 1959-1962. My first billet was as an artillery forward observer, then as a battalion S3 (fire direction center operations officer), and finally as a headquarters company commander.
“I never had to go to war but did mount up for the Kennedy-Kruschev Berlin Wall crisis before standing down. Before mustering out, I was a junior officer on a team planning an invasion of Cuba prior to the missile crisis in 1962.
“I loved the Marine Corps and almost stayed in for a career.”
WashingtonCountyInsider.com is paying tribute to veterans in the community. Feel free to submit your photo and a brief write-up for publication prior to November 11, 2021 to washcoinsider@gmail.com.