GILBERT, Ariz. — What started out as teenage prank turned into an enlistment with the U.S. Marine Corps for Lynn Evers.
“There were three of us buddies. We all palled around. Ron says, ‘Hey, we don’t have anything to do today. Let’s go down to the recruiter and harass him and pretend like we’re going to sign up.’ It sounded so good. He (recruiter) said the only thing we needed to buy was toothpaste and razor blades. So, we all signed up,” said Evers with a chuckle.
Evers finished high school before going off to basic training. Shortly after, the young Marine from Iowa was shipped off to Vietnam.
“I was over there in '65’. First deployment that Johnson did,” said Evers.
His duties included everything from taking care of the supplies to the armor.
“I pretty much did anything to support the company within our 200-man company. Then went on patrols also. I kept pretty busy,” Evers proclaimed.
He even took a few shots from an enemy sniper.
“One bullet went in there. Came out here. The other bullet ricocheted from the tank torrent. I don’t know, it was in pretty bad shape when it hit me,” said Evers as he showed off the bullet holes in the combat boots he wore that day.
Evers said he was lucky that day.
“He just didn’t have enough elevation on his rifle or I would’ve caught em all right here,” said Evers as he points to his chest.
Evers received the purple heart and served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps before moving into civilian life.
“I started at the L.A. Times on March 6, 1968,” Evers stated.
He went from the battlefields of Vietnam to the trenches of a major newspaper. The salty veteran didn’t take long convincing the L.A. Times to hire him.
“Leaned across his desk and said, ‘Why should I hire you?’” said Evers. “Well, if you don’t hire me. You’re missing one hell of an opportunity to have somebody work for you for as long as you need, for whatever you need, for as long as it takes.”
Evers got the job and spent the next 34 years with the paper doing everything from composing the layouts to working in the photography department.
Evers credits the Marine Corps for preparing him for life outside the military.
“I would not change anything that I have done. In a heartbeat,” he said.
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