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BEAUTANCUS — Sam Dixon is an understated man. Born into a farming family in Beautancus, he became enamored with the history of the Marine Corps as a young boy. At 18, he enlisted.
“The Marine Corps teaches you pride. Once a Marine, always a Marine,” Dixon said. “It is the pride that you are taught and the attitude you have toward winning.”
From 1962 to 1983, Dixon served in the Marine Infantry in California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and overseas. For 21 years, he loved that every day presented a new challenge, and he worked his way up the ranks to become a first sergeant. Although six years were spent on recruitment, most of Dixon’s service required such a high clearance that he still does not feel free to talk about it.
It was that high clearance that pulled him into the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968. Called in on a top clearance mission, Dixon was wounded at least three times and awarded three Purple Hearts. He recalled one wound to his leg, stating, “I had to just lie there in the grass with this shrapnel wound burning in my leg, and there was no pain medication, no crying out, nothing you could do but just lie there.”
When he was wounded, Dixon chose not to notify his family. He felt that keeping them from having to “sit around and wonder” about his condition made him stronger. Overcoming the pain taught him an important lesson: that humans can survive anything.
“I fought for this country, not for what it could do for me, but for what I could do for this country. Giving back (to our communities and others in need) is just the American way. America is a great country. If we have to bleed in a foreign land, that’s such a small sacrifice for what this country gives back to us. It’s given a lot back to me,” Dixon said proudly.
In Vietnam, Dixon served in “Waste City” during the Tet Offensive — one of the longest and bloodiest engagements, yet the worst pain he experienced was when he came home.
“When I came home, people spat in my face and called me a killer,” Dixon recalled. “You don’t expect that; It tore my heart out.”
It took years of therapy to get past the mental anguish and anger this caused Dixon. “I was 60 years old when I finally realized I couldn’t win the war by myself; I had to have people help me. The mind is a great tool, but sometimes tools wear out and have to be fixed again. Therapy did that for me. When a veteran goes to therapy, I think it is the greatest thing that can happen to him,” Dixon said. Now Dixon has a new perspective on the protesters.
“They were just exercising their rights, the rights we fought for,” he says now. “We didn’t sign up for a conflict, we signed up to defend our country. We signed up to defend our 100% right to freedom. Where we were ordered and what we were ordered to do was just a part of it,” Dixon explained.
Dixon had years of military training in leadership and a natural talent for numbers. In 1983, that helped him transition out of service and into other positions in Jacksonville including banking. Although he took college classes to further challenge himself, he never pursued a degree.
“It wasn’t going to secure me a better job,” he explained. “Getting a degree is now something that everyone needs, but if an opportunity comes to do something from your natural talent, you should do it,” Dixon told Duplin Journal.
After 18 years of working in Jacksonville, Dixon returned to the family farm in Beautancus and bought 15 acres to retire on. Now in retirement, Dixon supports his family and community as an active member of Bear Marsh Missionary Baptist Church, Beautancus Community Center and several veteran organizations.
“The VA, VFW, DAV, American Legion, and Military Order of the Purple Hearts are all great organizations that do a lot for the community and veterans. I’ve got 20 years experience with the VA and nothing but positive to say about it. They do any kind of medical treatment you need; if they don’t have it there, they have a community service where they partner with someone within the community to get it done,” Dixon said.
Dixon believes community service is just part of the American way.
“I think every young person should serve in the military, Reserves, or the National Guard because they support the local community. My mother was a great woman. She was very religious… and she taught (her seven children) to support others. If you don’t give back some of your talent and help those in need, what would they do? That’s the American way, and it’s what we are also taught in the military,” Dixon said.
