Leon Mortland was born in 1946 in Tyler, to Hazel and John Mortland. Leon grew up on the family farm northeast of Tyler and attended Tyler Public Schools.

After graduating from Tyler High School in 1964, Leon continued his education at Mankato State College.

“I wanted to get a math degree and teach. But I got sick of Mankato because they had a split campus and I never had consecutive classes on the same campus. You wasted time. If you had a 10 o’clock and you got done at 11, you couldn’t get another one until 11:30. I went there for eight quarters and decided I was done there.”

Leon met his future spouse during his Mankato years, when he agreed to a blind date with Marilyn Ruth Hokenson, a student at Augustana College from rural Slayton.

“A friend from high school set me up the summer after freshman year. Shirley had two roommates coming up the 4th of July weekend. She stopped me one night and asked if I would go out with one of them. I said, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Leon’s frustrations with Mankato State triggered major life changes.

“I bailed and got in trouble. Mankato said I dropped out and Winona State didn’t pick me up. So, the local draft board reclassified me to 1A. Because I transferred and switched majors, I hadn’t graduated by the spring of ’68. So, my four years were up. We got married in August of ’68. I registered for fall of ’68 and started classes. About (October) my draft board, (Leon chuckled) wrote me saying, ‘Don’t register for next quarter’s classes because you won’t be available to attend.’ The first part of December I got a letter from President Johnson, saying he needed a few good men (Leon laughed) and my name came up.”

He and Marilyn were in Winona, so they modified their plans.

“She had graduated from Augustana in Sioux Falls and had a teaching job in Winona. She was going to start teaching while I finished college. So, after I got drafted, she stayed there.”

Leon described the process of his Army transition.

“I was in Winona on January 20th and watched Nixon’s inauguration. Marilyn took me to the bus depot where I bought a ticket to Tracy. My dad met me. The morning of January 21st I reported to the Atlantic Hotel in Marshall where the bus picked us up. It took us to the Minneapolis induction center. We went through a physical and found out we were breathing. Then it was, ‘Raise your right hand; take one step forward; and repeat after me.’ You were in. They flew us to Fort Campbell, Kentucky where I took my Basic.”

Arriving at Fort Campbell’s Reception Station was a startling experience for the new inductees.

“The drill sergeants had no love for (Paygrade) E-1 ‘s–theads,’ as they called us. During a couple days in the reception center you got your hair cut. I saw guys who had afros, break down crying when it was in a pile on the floor. We got uniforms; we got split into platoons; we took tests; and it was off to basic training.”

Leon described their basic training barracks and early schedule.

“They were two story, WWII barracks with bunk beds. We had to leave a window open for fresh air even though it was freezing outside. We shared night, fire guard duty. We were up around 5 or 5:30 and off to calisthenics and breakfast. If your name was on the KP list, you were up earlier and getting ready for breakfast. There were three or four of us on my KP shift, (Leon chuckled) peeling a 100 pound sack of potatoes.”

He then outlined a typical training schedule.

“Some days we had classroom. You’d go learn everything you needed about first aid. Some days you would march to the rifle range. During basic we were still on M-14 rifles. M-16’s came later. Then you’d march back and have more classes. You came back at noon because they never brought food out to us.”

Leon explained they took weekly tests and that he assisted some trainees with them.

“Every Friday we’d have a test on what we had studied that week. We had ten or twelve guys in our platoon that needed help. A number of us took them into a small room and read them the questions because they were not able to read and understand them.”

That extra duty led to a difficult challenge for Leon.

Here’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done — the guy in the bunk below me was married and had two children. He was from the hills of Kentucky. When he got a letter from his wife, he asked me to read it to him. When he wanted to write her, he asked me to help. That’s not an easy situation. He wanted me to say what he was feeling. I had to do it.”

Contact with Marilyn was limited.

“Letters were the only contact I had. When I got to Fort Lee, Virginia she was able to fly down for a long weekend. Otherwise, it was letters. There were no calls.”

What lay ahead at Fort Lee was a mystery.

“In basic they just came out after graduation and said this many people are going to Fort Lee. I don’t think they even said what we were going into.”

©2024 William D. Palmer

The Lyon County Museum’s monthly Veterans Coffee is 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept.r 3, for veterans of any armed service. Join us for coffee, conversation, and camaraderie.