Joe Hudson is Veterans' Parade Grand Marshal

Joe Hudson is Veterans’ Parade Grand Marshal

By Liz Bowen for Siskiyou Daily News

October 30, 2019

ETNA – After years of service in the U.S. Army, Reserves, ROTC, Green Berets Special Forces, recruiting duty and, later, American Legion, it is past time for Joe Hudson to be honored as grand marshal of the Etna Veterans’ Parade. The parade starts at 11 a.m. this Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019 and will march from the Etna High School staging area down to Collier Way and up Main Street. All supporters of our military and the United States are invited to attend and applaud our veterans and soldiers for their service.

Joe Hudson, 88, served more than 20 years in the Army and retired with the rank of Master Sergeant after completing four tours: Two in Korea and two in Vietnam. His career is mixed and he was considered an “old man” at age 34, when he decided to sign-up for the newly established Green Berets Special Forces. Joe completed the vigorous training that included three weeks of “jump school” in Ft. Benning, Georgia and then Ft. Bragg, North Carolina to finish with HALO – high altitude jump training. Yes, he had to have oxygen (in a little tank) to jump out of an airplane at 30,000 feet above the earth. He successfully completed 15 jumps, in 1964, but never had to do it in combat.

It was during the Great Depression, in 1931, when Joe was born in Tempe, Arizona. His parents were from Arkansas, but by the time he graduated high school, in 1948, his family was living in Modesto, California. His dad had found a good job working for a railroad.

So, it was after World War II, in 1948, when Joe enlisted in the Army expecting a three-year stint. But, when time for his discharge arrived, U.S. President Truman rescinded all discharges. The Korean problem was escalating and in 1951, Joe went to Korea for nine months guarding the line.

In 1952, Joe received an Honorable Discharge and worked on the railroad and other jobs. Serving in the military didn’t bother Joe, so in 1957 he re-enlisted joining the Reserves. After eight weeks training in Ft. Ord, California, he was back in South Korea. This time, it was peaceable. But, Joe was there for 14 months!

Back home, Joe rightly chose to marry his long-time girlfriend, Donna, in 1958. And they are still married. They had a son, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. But, Joe and Donna are lucky to have adult grandchildren and great-grandchildren that live nearby. The Hudson family now considers Scott Valley its home!

Joe kept re-enlisting and served active duty ROTC in Arizona, where he recalls lowering the United States flag to half-staff the day that U.S. President John Kennedy was assassinated. He was also stationed in Washington, Hawaii, Nevada and California – of course, taking his family with him.

His first tour to Vietnam began in September 1965 on a Special Forces A Team setting-up communications near the Cambodian border. At one point, their company took two troops of Cambodians to rout the Viet Cong, which ended in a serious battle. Joe was hit with a grenade injuring his knee and he remembers losing good soldier friends in that fight.

While under attack, a Huey helicopter picked-up the wounded and dead taking them to a MASH hospital. Joe was there for a week and was able to send a note home to his wife briefly describing the situation. Actually, he wrote a very short expression from WW II: “I’ve got the million dollar wound,” meaning he was alive, but injured and would be sent home.

After finally arriving back on U.S. soil, Joe was stuck in the Letterman Hospital at The Presidio, in San Francisco, for a year. Shrapnel fragments are still in his leg and he was awarded the Purple Heart.

When he healed sufficient for active duty, Joe did ROTC duty at the University of Nevada, in Reno and then went back to Vietnam. Because he couldn’t qualify to jump in the Special Forces, Joe became an Intel Sergeant and pulled 12-hr shifts for nine months.  He then volunteered for the 9^th Infantry Division and was sent to Hawaii doing more Intel.

Joe’s last duty in the Army was recruiting in his hometown of Modesto and then, finally, received his last Honorable Discharge in 1973. He went back to work for a family-operated railroad company and became an engineer – yep, getting to blow the whistle – and as switchman on the electric diesel engines. That very loud whistle likely contributed to his loss of hearing, he says!

It was in 2001, when Joe and Donna found Scott Valley. Well, his brother, Denton Hudson, already lived here. But while traveling up to Washington to visit their grandson, Jason Hudson, who was serving in the Marines, they stopped to visit – and fell in love. Their move happened quickly and family has followed them.

Be sure to wave and send a big “thank you” to Grand Marshal Joe Hudson this Saturday. His granddaughter, Randi Hudson Scruggins will be driving him in a big red pickup and grandchildren will be with as well.

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