As 1953 came to a close, Newton resident Dwight Huggins looked to cap off a banner year: he’d recently graduated from college with a double-major in History and Physical Education and married the love of his life and high school sweetheart, Jacquie. Nothing could prepare him, though, for the adventure he would soon face across the Pacific Ocean after enlisting in the U.S. Army during the Korean war.

“I knew that I didn’t have a lot of time before I got drafted, and no one would give you a job because they knew you were going to get drafted soon,” Huggins said of the period following his graduation. “So I volunteered my name for the top of the list so I didn’t sit around for two or three months.”

Instead, Huggins enlisted in the 7th Infantry Division and headed to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. for basic training where he experienced the regimented discipline the armed forces are so renowned for.