A plaque at the apartment of Donald and Patricia Halbower says, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
“Well, that’s just a fact,” Don said. He served during the Korean War from 1952-1954.
“I had a hard time getting into the Marines,” he said. “I had flat feet. The Marines weren’t taking any enlistees, but my recruiter said, ‘The Draft Board is taking 10% of draftees into the Marine Corps, and if you move your name up on the Draft Board, I’ll be here when you take your draft physical and I’ll get you into the Marine Corps.’”
He moved his name up at the courthouse, went to Kansas City and took his physical again under draft standards, which he passed. True to his word, the recruiter was there to get him into the Marines.
Halbower wanted to enlist for three years, but they would only enlist him for two.
Halbower wanted to be a pilot but he was too tall, so he specialized in electronics and became a flying radar operator in a night fighter squadron.
He was stationed in San Diego, California, for boot camp, attended airman prep school in Jacksonville, Florida, and electronic school in Memphis, Tennessee, and then he joined his squadron in North Carolina.
“My commanding officer in our night fighter squadron was Ernest R. Hemingway,” he said.
Halbower shared photos from his 1953 yearbook and the jet he flew in.
“We only had 19 planes in our squadron. LT One Niner was the one I was assigned to. That was a twin engine jet.” It was a two-seater with the pilot and the radar operator seated side by side.
In the final weeks of his service, he was transferred and attained the rank of Sergeant of the Guard on the MP Attachment of Cherry Point, N.C.
During the Korean War, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point provided a steady flow of trained aviators and air crewmen as well as maintenance and support personnel as replacements to forward deployed aviation units.
He didn’t go overseas; the furthest he traveled outside of the USA was to Guantanamo, Cuba.
After the Marines
His military service is responsible for him meeting his future wife, Patricia Kramm.
Before the Korean War, Don was a student majoring in music at Southwestern College in Winfield. After he was discharged in May of 1954, thanks to the G.I. Bill, he enrolled at Emporia State in August.
Because he was entering under the G.I. Bill, he had to arrive at Emporia a little early to turn in his paperwork. Pat was working her way through college as a Clerk Steno II in the registrar’s office. She caught his eye.
“She was extremely pretty and very tall and bright,” he said.
“I turned in all my high school records, my college records, my military records, so she knew all about me, and I didn’t even know her name.” With the help of his fraternity brothers, Don figured out who she was and soon they were a couple.
They were married on June 5, 1955, in Emporia. Next month they will celebrate their 70th anniversary.
After his earlier college experience as a music major, Halbower said, “I definitely was not going to be a music major. College burned me out on music. I was taking 21 hours in music courses and you only received credit for 17. So that just taught me what I didn’t want to do. I came back as a physical science major at Emporia State.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree, and later a master’s, from Emporia State.
He taught science, physics and chemistry at Junction City High School for two years before going to White City as school superintendent. From there, he moved to Stafford, again as superintendent. He later came to Great Bend High School, where he was principal until his retirement. He was a school administrator for 33 years and the principal of Great Bend High School for 28 of those years. Pat was a teacher of Spanish and French for 27 years in Stafford, Great Bend Junior and Senior High Schools and Barton County Community College.
Proud to serve
When asked why he wanted to serve in the Marines, Halbower may joke that they had the “prettiest uniforms,” but he’s sure to mention other family members in the Armed Forces.
His brother, who was 10 years older than Don, was a Marine in World War II.
His father served in the Army, driving an ambulance in France in World War I.
Later, the Halbowers’ oldest son, David, spent three years in the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps in Washington, D.C. He served from 1974 to 1977 and attained the rank of E-4.
One of David’s roommates became the director of the Drum and Bugle Corps, which helped pave the way for Glenn Opie and Don Halbower to arrange for the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps to perform in Great Bend — twice.
In 2023, Donald Halbower was featured on the KSN television segment, “Salute to Seniors.” As part of that recognition, he was allowed to present a $500 scholarship from the DeVaughn James law firm to a student of his choice. He presented the scholarship to Gavin Hirsh, valedictorian of the Great Bend High School Class of 2023.
