In early 1966, at the tender age of seventeen, Dan Horton enlisted in the Marine Corps at Wayne, Michigan. Dan said that at the time he was “lost and had nowhere to go.” His Marine Corps recruiters took him to his high school and tried, along with school officials, to talk Dan into staying enrolled, but Dan was on a mission.

Dan Horton at Khe Sanh

He arrived at Khe Sanh in June of 1967 while Bravo Company was on Hill 861 South. Dan was a rifleman in Second Platoon and was wounded while on patrol outside the Grey Sector on March 21, 1968, during the Siege of Khe Sanh.

After Vietnam, Dan was stationed at Camp Pendleton in southern California and then in Washington, D.C.

After his stint in the Corps, Dan returned to Michigan where he had a long career as an animal control officer.

Dan Horton at his Bravo interview at Ann Arbor, MI

When asked about his time at Khe Sanh, Dan said, with a twinkle in his eye, “It is what it is, and that’s what it is.”

Dan Horton, a Marine every day of his life since entering boot camp, passed away on November 10, 2010, the Marine Corps’ 235th birthday.

We miss Dan Horton. Semper Fidelis, Dan.