Either he could spend time behind bars or spend time serving his country in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sexton, a native of Rockwell City, had moved out to Isleton, California, his senior year of high school to live with his grandmother.

“She was going to straighten me out,” Sexton said.

But Sexton, who admits he was a bit of a troublemaker, wound up facing an assault charge.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
George Sexton, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of Sherwood, is pictured here. Sexton spent more than 70 days in combat during the Beirut mission in 1983.

“I got in a fight,” he said. “It was an assault — some drinking misconduct. I wasn’t focused. I didn’t have my priorities.”

That’s when he was put in front of a judge in Sacramento County.

“Looking back, it wasn’t like I was getting sentenced to prison,” he said. “The judge did give me an option. You can serve my time or time in the Marine Corps. He gave me a chance to make the decision myself. It was just kind of the final nudge to join the Marine Corps and you can’t really screw around there. It was a decision that I wanted to go. I needed to go. Had to go. And I am damn sure glad I did.”

Sexton had already joined the Marine Corps delayed entry program. He was 17 when he was recruited.

“Even as a freshman and a junior in high school, there was something about the dress blue uniform and the United States Marine Corps that caught my eye,” he said. “I had an interest.”

In November 1982, Sexton arrived in San Diego for boot camp.

“I came from Iowa,” Sexton said. “I was a wrestler, a football player. I had a mindset of being in pretty good shape, and I thought I could handle myself in situations. I was a young, cocky, stupid kid — could whip anybody’s (butt). Didn’t take long to get rid of that.”

Sexton said his eyes were opened wide once he stepped off the bus for boot camp.

“I got off a bus and I stood in yellow foot prints, and that was the start,” Sexton said. “When they get you off that bus, there is all these yellow foot prints. That’s the first time you stand at attention. It’s your last breath as a civilian.”

In the weeks that followed, Sexton’s toughness was tested, oftentimes through running.

“They always had you running,” Sexton said. “Always tired.”

A lot of running took place on the beach.

“They took us out and ran us on the sand by the ocean,” Sexton said. “A lot of us had never seen the ocean. The drill instructor made it a point not to look at the ocean.”

If caught, there were consequences.

“I didn’t look at it, but he caught a couple of Marines looking at the ocean,” Sexton said. “We didn’t make it to the rifle range that day.”

Rifle qualification drills were held at Camp Pendleton.

Even for a seemingly tough kid from Iowa, the training eventually wore on Sexton.

“There comes a point, I am speaking for myself, and I can’t speak for everyone, they break you down and they break you,” Sexton said. “And then the United States Marine Corps molds you, creates you. If you want to be a Marine, it’s a spirit. It’s a brotherhood. If you value it, it doesn’t take long before that’s your life, that’s what you are.”

Sexton graduated boot camp in February 1983.

He went on to advanced infantry training after that.

Eventually, Sexton was given his permanent duty station orders.

He was sent to Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station in Hawaii.

“I was with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines,” he said. “It wasn’t even two weeks and I was on board the USS Tarawa. We sailed out of Pearl Harbor with the Seventh Fleet. Our mission was contingency operations abroad, protecting United States sovereign interests.”

During that tour, Sexton was able to focus on his training, which was something he valued.

“We trained in the jungles,” he said. “Thailand, Africa, Philippines, Australia. I was young, in shape. I was a Marine. I was seeing the world.”

He added, “It was a lot of fun because you could concentrate, you could focus without a distraction.”

In August 1983, Sexton was training in Kenya when he was called back to the ship.

“We were training with the Kenya army,” Sexton said. “They called us back and we got combat orders to Beirut, Lebanon.”

A civil war was ongoing in Lebanon and U.S. Marines were ordered there for support.

“It was 72 days, somewhere around there,” Sexton said. “That’s the total days of combat we had with the Beirut mission.”

Sexton was stationed on a ship just off the coast, he said.

Conditions were unstable.

“Marines were getting shot,” Sexton said. “It was getting bad. They had blown up our embassy in April. It was getting heated up. 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, they were getting hit, no enemy to recognize. It’s frustrating. I can honestly say I was probably in harm’s way maybe two or three days.”

Then one Sunday in October, a terrorist attack killed hundreds of U.S. Marines.

It was Oct. 23, 1983. A suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

Two hundred and forty-one U.S. military personnel were killed, including 220 Marines.

Sexton was aboard a ship at the time.

“I was coming back from chow,” he said. “Col. Bob Jordan was on his way to take Marines to worship, and they got us. It came across the ship’s wire that there was an attack on Marine Corps’ barracks. Casualties expected. They didn’t have much detail at the time.”

He can still hear the sound.

“I was walking back and I remember it was like a football stadium when a team scores a touchdown, but it wasn’t cheering — it was a rumble,” he said. “Things changed after that.”

The experience is one that remains difficult to think about, but Sexton said talking about it does help him.

He was honorably discharged on Nov. 28, 1985. It took years for him to learn to cope.

Family helped him through the difficult times, he said.

“It took me a while to get back to where I am now,” Sexton said. “Late ’80s, ’90s, I was pretty messed up. Nothing was making sense.”

He joined a Marines Motorcycle Club and has since started his own company, Earth Stone Masonry.

To this day, he struggles with events that occurred while he served.

“You feel bad for the ones who didn’t get home,” he said. “A lot of resentment. Just have to honor it. It knocked the wind out of me for a long time. All my Marines I talk to, they are very proud. This is a great country. Absolutely great. I’d die for it, unconditionally. We all would. A lot of us did.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

• Daily Newsletter
• Breaking News
• Obituaries

Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

• Yes
• No