# War Veterans who served in multiple wars, decades apart **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004 "2012-05-05T16:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/1 "2012-05-05T16:48:20Z")
Recently, I stumbled upon this news story from 2009: 70-Year-Old Reservist, Surgeon Returns To Iraq > **[70-Year-Old Reservist, Surgeon Returns To Iraq](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106214966)** > > Col. Hector Henry is one of only three doctors over the age of 70 who have agreed to come out of retirement and serve active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the U.S. Army Reserves Medical Command. The urologist, City Council member and... So there is a 70 years old man, a Colonel, who actually serves in a theater of war. This leads to an interesting question: Are there cases of soldiers who served in one conflict as a young man and than returned to military service a very long time later (maybe never even leaving the service)? For instance, German field marshal Paul von Hindenburg (1847 - 1934) served as a young lieutenant in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 and was the German chief of staff during WW I, well into his 70s, finally retiring from military service in 1919. I’m almost certain that there weren’t veterans from the American Civil War who served in WW I. Many of the senior officers in WW II had served in WW I. There must have been a number of soldiers from WW I who also served in the Korean War (at least Colonel Potter from MASH did…). Could there have been soldiers who served in WW I who also served in Vietnam? There was a significant number of WW II veterans who went on to fight in the Vietnam War. There are the names of soldiers on the Vietnam Wall Memorial who were in their 60s when they were killed in action. It would also be interesting to know when the last veteran from WW II retired from service. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/2 "2012-05-05T17:07:31Z")
As a starting point, we had [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=606158) thread not too long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/3 "2012-05-05T17:17:47Z")
Winfield Scott served in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the American Civil War. He served from 1808 to 1861 and was a general for forty-seven years. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/4 "2012-05-05T17:20:51Z")
There were a few Vietnam vets who served in Gulf War I and Gulf War II. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/5 "2012-05-05T17:30:38Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > There were a few Vietnam vets who served in Gulf War I and Gulf War II. Interestingly, the last soldier who was **drafted** into the military during the Vietnam War era retired less than a year ago: > **[Last Vietnam Era Draftee Finally Retires](https://abcnews.go.com/US/draftee-military-retires-39-years/story?id=13990440#.T6VjEUi_qtI)** > > Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Mellinger has been in the Army for 39 years. He is the only active duty army soldier that was drafted and is still serving. At 58, he is now about to retire. He wasn’t sent to Vietnam, though. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/6 "2012-05-05T17:34:31Z")
I read Norman Schwarzkopf’s biography a few years ago. His original assignment after West Point was 101st Airborne and he was a paratrooper. He did 2 tours in Viet Nam. He was sent as a consultant to Granada to help the Admiral organize that war. Then the Gulf War. Three wars in his career. He credits the screw ups and confusion in Granada as a learning experience for his command in the Gulf War. The Navy was in charge in Granada and an Admiral was trying to organize and deploy ground troops & Air support. Schwarzkopf was there representing the Army and “eventually” was able to assist in the plans for ground forces. The command structure between the three military branches was pretty shaky in Granada and there was a lot of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/7 "2012-05-05T18:14:32Z")
George Patton was with General John J Pershing in the Pancho Villa Expedition, then in France in WWI and finally WWII. His experiences commanding tanks in WWI influenced his WWII command. > **[Pancho Villa Expedition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition)** > > Conventionists > Constitutionalists > Pancho Villa > **[George S. Patton | World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton#World_War_I)** > > After the Villa Expedition, Patton was detailed to Front Royal, Virginia, to oversee horse procurement for the army, but Pershing intervened on his behalf. After the United States entered World War I, in April 1917, and Pershing was named commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front, Patton requested to join his staff. Patton was promoted to captain on 15 May 1917, and left for Europe, among the 180 men of Pershing's advance party which departed 28 May and arr On 10 N... Interesting bit of history. > [@](#): > > _Conducting the United States’ first motorized vehicle attack on May 14, 1916, then-Lieutenant Patton with ten soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment and two civilian guides, employed three Dodge Brothers Model 30 touring cars,_ to engage the opposing forces. Although the expedition was ostensibly “foraging” to obtain corn (maize) for the horses in the remaining force, Patton used it to hunt outlaws at their rancheros. A search for Julio Cárdenas, at a ranch in San Miguelito, Sonora, Mexico (with the troops dismounting from the cars and fighting on foot) discovered three initially-mounted Villista fighters, trying to escape. These were later determined to be a Villista private, captain, and the leader “General” Julio Cárdenas, commander of Villa’s personal bodyguard. All of the Villista men where killed in the ensuing firefight. All were shot at by Patton at some point, who first knocked down a horse under a rider at close range with a pistol shot, causing that rider to be killed shortly after by fire from several men, including Patton. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/8 "2012-05-05T18:20:53Z")
Prussian field marshal Karl Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1796 - 1884) also had an interesting career: He joined the Prussian army in 1811 and fought in the wars against Napoleon. 55 years later, he was a general and commanded an Army in the Austro-Prussian War (1866). He was promoted to field marshal during the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71). So Paul von Hindenburg (see my first post) in 1866 served as a young officer in a battle under a general who himself joined an Army that still used muzzleloaders which could fire two, maybe three shots a minute. Von Hindenburg then decades later went on to be chief of staff in WW I, with machine guns, trench warfare, poison gas, aerial combat, aerial bombings and wireless telegraphy. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/9 "2012-05-05T20:17:23Z")
It’s a civilian position, but it’s the position in charge of the Royal Navy: the same person was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1914 at the start of World War I, and in 1939 at the start of World War II. He also worked as a war correspondent in 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence, and was a prisoner of war in 1899 during the Second Boer War. (At those times he was a military officer, but he wasn’t serving with his regiment.) Of course, he continued to play an important role – still as a civilian – in the conduct of World War II until the end in 1945. I’ll leave it as a simple exercise to identify the man who was so actively involved in various wars over a 50-year period, and was in charge of one of the world’s largest navies at two times, separated by 25 years. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/10 "2012-05-05T20:40:00Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > It’s a civilian position, but it’s the position in charge of the Royal Navy: the same person was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1914 at the start of World War I, and in 1939 at the start of World War II. He also worked as a war correspondent in 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence, and was a prisoner of war in 1899 during the Second Boer War. (At those times he was a military officer, but he wasn’t serving with his regiment.) Of course, he continued to play an important role – still as a civilian – in the conduct of World War II until the end in 1945. I’ll leave it as a simple exercise to identify the man who was so actively involved in various wars over a 50-year period, and was in charge of one of the world’s largest navies at two times, separated by 25 years. He also received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/11 "2012-05-05T20:43:52Z")
A number of high-ranking officers (and no doubt enlisted men as well) of the Spanish-American war had served in the U.S Civil War. Thirty-five years after the fact, feelings between North & South still ran high; Teddy Roosevelt and others were hopeful that bringing old fighters together in another war might finally bring about some amount of reconciliation. Gen. Rufus Shafter, who led the Cuban campaign was a Civil War vet who had gone on to fight in the Indian wars in the western territories. “Fighting Joe” Wheeler had been a Confederate cavalry general, then a long-serving U.S. Congressman from Alabama, became Major-general of volunteers in the Cuban theater during the Spanish-American conflict. He was, incidentally, commanding officer of Roosevelt and the Rough Riders unit. Gen “Black Jack” Pershing started out in the Indian wars, then served as regimental quatermaster for the 10th cavalry “buffalo soldiers” in the Cuban campaign and, of course, went on to become leader of the American Expeditionary Forces in WW1. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/12 "2012-05-05T21:16:24Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > It’s a civilian position, but it’s the position in charge of the Royal Navy: the same person was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1914 at the start of World War I, and in 1939 at the start of World War II. He also worked as a war correspondent in 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence, and was a prisoner of war in 1899 during the Second Boer War. (At those times he was a military officer, but he wasn’t serving with his regiment.) Of course, he continued to play an important role – still as a civilian – in the conduct of World War II until the end in 1945. I’ll leave it as a simple exercise to identify the man who was so actively involved in various wars over a 50-year period, and was in charge of one of the world’s largest navies at two times, separated by 25 years. Don’t forget that he also commanded a battalion on the Western Front in WW1. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/13 "2012-05-05T22:04:45Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > It’s a civilian position, but it’s the position in charge of the Royal Navy: the same person was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1914 at the start of World War I, and in 1939 at the start of World War II. He also worked as a war correspondent in 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence, and was a prisoner of war in 1899 during the Second Boer War. (At those times he was a military officer, but he wasn’t serving with his regiment.) Of course, he continued to play an important role – still as a civilian – in the conduct of World War II until the end in 1945. I’ll leave it as a simple exercise to identify the man who was so actively involved in various wars over a 50-year period, and was in charge of one of the world’s largest navies at two times, separated by 25 years. That’s very unrealistic, I think the author of those history books must have put himself as a character in those positions. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/14 "2012-05-05T22:12:48Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > That’s very unrealistic, I think the author of those history books must have put himself as a character in those positions. Yes, especially with all those cutting _bon mots_ he gave the character. [Of course, when you’re talking about WWII a little self-insertion is the _least_ of the problems.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=645923) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/15 "2012-05-05T22:33:21Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Yes, especially with all those cutting _bon mots_ he gave the character. > > [Of course, when you’re talking about WWII a little self-insertion is the _least_ of the problems.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=645923) 😃 I was thinking of that exact thread when I wrote that. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/16 "2012-05-06T00:15:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Don’t forget that he also commanded a battalion on the Western Front in WW1. I think you are thinking of Jack C. not the other one. wait… he would have been 13 at the time… scratch that ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/17 "2012-05-06T00:44:43Z")
We had several Vietnam vets reenlist into our guard unit after 911. Deployed with a few of them. They were pushing 60. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/18 "2012-05-06T04:36:00Z")
The boy who grew up across the street from my family enlisted in the USArmy right out of high school and made it a career. While in the regular army, he served in Grenada and Desert Storm. After retirement, he went to the Army Reserves and has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Yikes! There were quite a few WWII vets who served in the Korean Conflict and a number of Korea vets who served in Vietnam (I had uncles for each of these). It also tends to be difficult for medical personnel to completely retire. One of my aunts went into the reserves after serving two hitches active army and was only able to fully retire when she could no longer pass the physical. She served in Vietnam and Desert Storm. To answer the OP, yes and ever more likely in the US, given our all volunteer military. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/19 "2012-05-06T04:38:34Z")
Ariel Sharon fought in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and was defense minister in 1982 in Lebanon. Pervez Muharraf fought against India in 1965 and 1971. Was a Brigade commander in Siachen and was commander in chief in the current war. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/20 "2012-05-06T08:16:23Z")
A young cavalry officer by the name of Douglas MacArthur served in Mexico during the Vera Cruz Incident in 1914, then later fought in France in WWI with the 42nd Infantry Division, also known as the “Rainbow Division”, a formation made up of National Guardsmen from numerous states. He would later be in command of American and Philippine forces at the outbreak of WWII (several years after he retired, actually; he was recalled to active duty in the summer of 1941). A decade later, he was in command of United Nations forces during the outbreak of the Korean War. He ended up being relieved of his command in April of 1951 and retired shortly after, having served for 53 years. Also off the top of my head, [Major General Alfred Flowers](http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=7833), who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years back while I was in tech school, served from 1965 to 2012, serving for 47 years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004.md?page=2)