By Rex Hogan
Published on June 26, 2008

Without servicemen and women, there would be no Fourth of July celebration.

That’s the way El Reno VFW Navy and Army veteran Don Douglas sees it.

Douglas served in both World War II and the Korean War.
He joined the Navy in 1945 and served about 13 months. He then attended college at the University of Oklahoma and got his commission.

In 1950, he joined the Army.

“They were calling people up for Korea and I volunteered,” Douglas said.

In September of 1951, he was assigned to the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Division.

“We supported the infantry. There was a lot of fighting going on,” he said.

“Sometimes you were scared, sometimes you weren’t,” Douglas said.

After about six months, Douglas became an aerial observer. He flew in a light plane, directing artillery fire.

“The dangerous part was we flew over China. If we flew over the American side too much we got a lot of fire, and we’d rather be shot at by a rifle than an artillery shell,” he said.

Douglas spent nine months in Korea and earned enough combat points to “rotate” out.

“After Korea, I spent two years at Fort Sill and then I was sent to Germany from May of 1952 to December of 1956 as a field artillery unit commander,” Douglas said.

He said he’s pleased that the public supports the servicemen and women who are facing combat overseas.
“There’s some difference between those who face a level of exposure to danger. Anytime you’re exposed to a combat situation, it’s different.

“I’m not saying the combat veterans feel elitist, but they do feel different. That’s why we have the VFW.

“You have to be overseas during the time of conflict, or awarded a theater badge or theater ribbon or an occupation ribbon,” he said.

“I think the general public today supports the service people much better than they did the Vietnam veteran. The Vietnam War was unpopular, but the current war is somewhat unpopular too,” he said.

“It’s bewildering what the population did to the Vietnam veteran. He was just doing what he was drafted to do,” Douglas said.

He said it’s the U.S. veteran’s job to help current servicemen and women receive the benefits they deserve.

“The difference between the Veterans Administration between the 1950s and now is the difference between night and day.

“They recognize and help the individual more than what they used to. I would like to see the Congress pass a new GI bill so that the service people would have something like we did after World War II. That just made all the difference in the world and it was the World War I veterans who pushed for it,” he said.