MIDLAND, Texas — The Manor Park staff put up a full display of their residents who have served in the military and behind each picture there's a different veteran's story.
Spencer Blocker served as a 1LT in 1955.
"I was in ROTC at Texas Tech and that's how I got into the service as soon as I got out of college," says Blocker, "did officer basic course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and then I was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for the balance of two years."
L.B. Taylor Jr. also spent two years in the United States Army.
"I enlisted the day after I was 18, in 1943. December the 4th was my birthday in 1943," says Taylor Jr.
Taylor served under General Patton recounts one of the most memorable moments while away at war.
"I'm a few of those WWII veterans left," says Taylor Jr.
"I was with the 514 artillery which was a cohort and that means we weren't attached to any particular infantry division, we could just go up and down where we needed," says Taylor," we got ship orders and got on board, we were three days out...when we heard about the 1st atomic bomb being used and don't you think they'd let us celebrate."
Both these men share similar experiences years ago and also share the fact that one or two of these pictures are the only things they still have from their time in the service.
"We also had a six months program for the ones that didn't go to college, they started that while I was there. I was the company commander for one of those units at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri," says Blocker.
"It gave me the opportunity to go to college, I went to Texas Tech and got my degree in Geology. The last time I worked I was 87, I'm 95 now," says Taylor Jr.
But despite the few pictures, their memories of their time, will last forever. Of the service the did and the lives lost along the way
