AUGUSTA, Kan. (KSNW) — Len Hudson was born in Wellington, but moved to Augusta in 1958. He’s called it home ever since. After graduating from high school, Len went on to college at Butler and Wichita State. But as the Vietnam War escalated, his path changed — he joined the Army. “I got th is thing in the mail from the Army that said ‘Hey, you’ve got a college degree. You can be an officer.’ So I went over and talked to a guy at the recruiting center and he set me up, and I signed up. It’s kind of funny because I signed up, I got home — and my draft notice was in the mailbox.” After basic training, Officer Candidate School, and military intelligence instruction, Len was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There, he trained artillerymen heading to Vietnam. “You guys out there, in case you were an artilleryman from about 1970 to 1972 — I probably signed your orders sending you to Vietnam,” he said. “So here I am if you want to throw stones at me.”  After three years of active duty, with a baby on the way, Len and his wife decided it was time to come home to Augusta. “Had she not been born, we might have hung around a little longer. But as it turned out, we did the right thing,” he said. Still, Len wasn’t done serving. He jumped into the Army Reserve. “I served five years with the 971st Medical Company, which was like a giant emergency room. It was kind of a shift from artillery and intelligence to that.” A few years later, Len was back in the Reserves — this time commanding an ambulance company. But his talents extended beyond the military. At home, Len was publishing popular local newspapers like the Augusta Gazette and El Dorado Times. “That’s my first love. Newspapers are my first love. News people are the coolest people around.” In 1992, Len had one more military job — this time with the National Guard as an artillery forward observer. Even while serving, Len stayed active in his hometown. “I served on the city council in town, Lion’s Club, Chamber of Commerce. I serve as an elder at my church.” Len credits the military for shaping his work ethic and resilience. “They taught you stuff you would never learn readily in the civilian world. They taught you that there are days when you are so tired and you’ve had no sleep, and you’ve been wet for a week, and everything hurts — but you still got stuff to do, and you still do it.” Even in full retirement, Len hasn’t slowed down. He’s now an author, signing copies of his book “Ma Qui” — a fictional tale featuring real people, set during the Vietnam War. ...read more read less