WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) - A Kansas veteran served three tours in Vietnam and continued to serve his country for decades. Norris Marshall grew up in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. "I had never seen a person of color. There was no vehicles on this island. No bars. Grocery stores, churches and that was it," said Marshall. Courtesy: Norris Marshall He volunteered for the draft in 1956 and got out after two years. "I go back to this little island. I just didn't saw no livelihood for me there. I really didn't," said Marshall. After a month, he re-enlisted. Marshall ended up at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where he met a Kansas woman named Eloise, who was serving as a dental hygienist in the Women's Army Corps. "So we dated for a month or two, got serious, and I said, 'Eloise,' I proposed to her. And she accepted, and we got married," said Marshall. "Got married there at Fort Rucker. The Chaplin married us." Courtesy: Norris Marshall Together, they started a family. Marshall served as a driver for a two-star general, meeting senators and dignitaries before heading to intelligence school and later to flight school, where he trained on the Huey helicopter."Everybody that was going through flight school, the next destination was Vietnam," he said. In October 1966, he served his first of three tours in Vietnam. "Combat ... is scary ...," said Marshall. He started in an air assault helicopter unit. Flew assaults, transported senior officers and did medevac. "I was never shot down, but I had a lot of bullet holes in my helicopter," said Marshall. Sometimes, he would have to transport casualties. "All the way back, you're thinking about all their families and what's happened to them," said Marshall. "'Somewhere back in the United States, two or three days from now, they're going to be families that will be mourning these people.'" Kansas veteran continues to serve after more than three decades On Easter Sunday in March 1967, then warrant officer Marshall was involved in a major operation to airlift Vietnamese soldiers. "The enemy was just waiting for us, and they unloaded on us," he said. They made repeated trips from Vĩnh Long back to the Hot Zone. Several aircraft were shot down. "It was very tragic, and this one pilot that got shot down was a warrant officer like me," said Marshall. The pilot was trapped, and the unit could not get to him. "He laid in that landing zone for five or six hours," said Marshall. Marshall went back to dump ammo. "Went back and flew into this landing zone, and it was still hot as, I mean, we were getting shot at big time," he said. Hours later, the officer was rescued but injured. "He survived. The irony is that. Years later, when I got assigned to Fort Riley on my last assignment, I walk into a building where he sits. I about dropped my drawers," laughed Marshall. Courtesy: Norris Marshall His 22 years of service took him all over the country and Europe. "Vietnam is a beautiful country. I got to see almost all of it," said Marshall. In 1978, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Norris Marshall retired from the army. "I was at the young man. I was 39 years old," Marshall said. He and Eloise settled in Chapman, and he used his training to become a federal agent. "Doing background investigations on individuals that ended high-security clearances," said Marshall. "I met all walks of life and had it was a wonderful- it was a wonderful job." He was always happy to go to work. "I will tell you that I never had a boss In the military or civil service that I disliked. I was very fortunate. I never got up every morning and didn't want to go to work. Never. That never occurred to me. I had good jobs and worked for good people, and I was blessed that way," said Marshall. Kansas Air Force veteran went on over 700 flights across the world He and Eloise were married just shy of 60 years. She died a couple of years ago after a battle with cancer. "She never met anybody that she couldn't get along with. She had that ability. Honest to God. That was one of her main characteristics," said Marshall. When he returned from the war, he, like many other veterans, received a lot of anger. "I mean, we were treated like dirt. You may get spit on. You didn't never want to wear your uniform out to a restaurant," said Marshall.Today, he's appreciative of a very different reception from the public than when he first returned from Vietnam. "Not a day goes by that I wear that Vietnam service cap that somebody don't come up to me and say 'thank you for your service,'" said Marshall. If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, email KSN at [email protected].