The Georgia Virtue Veteran Spotlight Series features veterans in communities around Georgia that humbly and selflessly served our country. The series is sponsored by Femac Security Solutions.
A lifelong Bulloch County resident, born and raised in Statesboro, Mr. Marlin Nesmith served his country honorably in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.
At the age of eighteen, Nesmith received his draft notice, indicating that he should travel to Atlanta for a physical and an evaluation. He ended up enlisting before the official ‘draft’ process began in hopes that he could select his branch and specialty and he’d contemplated enlisting anyway, coming from a family of servicemembers. At the time, those who were drafted went directly into the infantry and had very few choices on much of anything from there. Infantry was something, at least at that time, that Nesmith wanted to avoid because he was a caretaker for his mother and a financial contributor to his family’s household in the absence of his father, a World War II veteran.
When Nesmith enlisted in August of 1969, he also had two brothers serving in other branches – Toby, who was in the Navy, and Dennis, who was in the Marine Corps. Toby was two years older than Marlin and Dennis was one year old than Marlin.
Before heading out to Fort Gordon, Nesmith was working as a farm hand, a newspaper delivery boy, and a milkman, among other odd jobs to make ends meet.
Nesmith’s first assignment was in administration. He had typing experience from high school and he was skilled in fixing typewriters as well, making him an adequate fit for the job.That quickly led to him teaching others how to type because the skill was not yet one that was learned by everyone.
In January 1970, his unit deployed to Vietnam. He was back and forth from headquarters in Bien Hoa, flying on choppers to courier documents and other strategic materials to other locations. He’d remain there, working in that capacity, until December 1970.
“I went where they needed me and I did what I knew needed to be done, regardless of where that was,” Nesmith said of how often he would travel throughout Vietnam.
In June 1971, Nesmith decided he wanted to marry a young woman he’d met in high school. Sharon was the only woman he ever dated seriously and at the age of 20, he borrowed a car to drive back to Bulloch County from Fort Gordon to propose. That was on a Friday. On Saturday, they drove to Allendale to be married, spent a night together for their ‘honeymoon,’ and he returned to report for duty at Fort Gordon at the start of the week. It was just weeks before he would leave again for his second tour in Vietnam.
Nesmith had learned in April that they wanted to deploy his brother, Dennis, to Vietnam and he was concerned about whether or not Toby could handle it. Because of the Sullivan rule, which prevented more than one male in a family from being deployed to a war zone at a single time, Nesmith volunteered to return to Vietnam to keep Dennis from making it to Vietnam. Toby was already stationed on a ship in the Pacific, but because neither he nor Toby said anything, there was no issue with both of them serving over there and the bureaucratic side of things never caught up to them.
When Nesmith returned from the second tour, he and Sharon moved to Waycross, where they had family ties. In 1973, Sharon and Marlin welcomed their son, Travis, about a year after Marlin returned from his second tour. Marlin worked for Choo Choo Supply as a warehouse manager and attended the vocational school down there. That was somewhat short lived and they relocated to Claxton for sometime before enlisting again in 1974. From there, he was sent to Fort McPherson for approximately one year before the family volunteered to go to Belgium. From 1975 to 1978, the family lived overseas and Nesmith again worked in administration and personnel services.
St. Louis, Missouri is where they made a ‘home’ after returning stateside in 1978. Nesmith worked with the Army as they set up the Discharge Review Directory. Nesmith was then essentially assigned as a Legal Clerk in the Legal Division where he helped servicemembers in disputes against the armed forces, particularly when there were questions about discharge status and disciplinary matters stemming from their service in Vietnam. While in Missouri, Marlin and Sharon welcomed their daughter, Tarina.
After the Nesmiths spent a combined five more years as a military family – three overseas and two in Atlanta and Missouri, they returned to Bulloch County. Nesmith worked a number of jobs over the years, from building supply and concrete companies to car dealerships and the local newspaper. The family also owned a taxi cab company at one time.
These days, Marlin Nesmith’s service to our country is a distant memory and he and Sharon both enjoy a slower pace of life, still in Statesboro, near their children and five grandchildren.
The Army was the right choice for him, in terms of service and as a branch of choice. But Nesmith attributes his ability to reach most of his goals to the opportunities provided to him in the Army, which he says ultimately helped him achieve his own destiny…one of which he is quite proud.
“I just learned a lot of lessons a lot faster and a lot differently than the way some other folks do,” Marlin said of his time in the service.
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