From Vietnam to Afghanistan, soldier still serving

Almost 60 and Still a Soldier
By Conor Powell
Published November 22, 2011
FoxNews.com


KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Most men at the age of 59 are planning for retirement, but Staff Sgt. Don Nicholas is no ordinary man. He wants to re-enlist in the U.S. Army and stay a soldier as long as he can.

A Vietnam veteran, Nicholas is the oldest soldier serving on the front lines in Afghanistan.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Sgt. Nic, as he is affectingly called by younger soldiers, re-enlisted in the military.

“It was the right thing to do,” he says. “It’s as simple as that. I just didn’t want everyone else out there doing things I should be doing.”

A former Marine rifleman with two tours under his belt in Vietnam, including one at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon as enemy troops moved into the capital city, Nicholas thought he could faithfully rejoin their ranks.

But the Marines rejected his application. So he turned to the only other unit that offered him a chance to see combat – the U.S. Army.
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