ANDERSON, S.C. (WSPA) – Frank Sullivan joined the army out of high school looking for direction in life.

“Didn’t have a lot going for me…” Sullivan told 7NEWS. “So when I got into the military, they taught me discipline and they taught me to do things and follow through.”

He said it’s what pushed him to grow into a man.

“I went home, on leave, and I heard my father tell my older brother, that ‘he’s a different person than when he left here.’ So he didn’t know I heard him say that, but it sure made me feel good,” said Sullivan.

So he decided to stay.

“I ended up being in an armored intelligence group, which is basically a scout and so that’s what I did my first trip,” Sullivan shared. “I finished that training and I went to Korea and I spent 13 months in Korea. was really 16 months in Korea.”

Then to Germany where he patrolled the East-West border for three years.

There, Sullivan was also a tanker.

He then volunteered to go to Vietnam providing security for the Marine base camp.

“Within 90 days, I got shrapnel on the left arm,” Sullivan said. “[I] got one personnel carry hit with the RPG (rocket-propelled grenade), survived it, and then I had another personal carrier direct hit from a recoilless rifle. Blew it up and set it on fire. We got out of it safely.”

That same day Sullivan was hit with a bullet in the wrist.

“I didn’t realize it was that- I was seriously wounded,” Sullivan said. “But it caused me to have to take a medical retirement from the Army.”

Sullivan received two purple hearts for his injuries and a silver star for his bravery in helping his brothers in sisters in arms during combat.

“I just did my job, what I thought was my job,” Sullivan explained. “But I ended up receiving the Silver Star forward and I know my platoon leader recommended me for that.”

Sullivan said he’s proud he went into the Army, but now chooses to leave that part of his life behind him.

“I don’t have any guilt about being there and doing what I was trained to do, what I was supposed to do,” Sullivan said. “I have a guilt now… Not a guilt. But I just have a disgusting feeling that we lost 55,000 men over there and we have nothing to show for it.”

Frank Sullivan, Thank You for Your Service.

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