Kaufman County Judge Wayne Gent was born on Christmas, which normally makes for an extra-special holiday celebration. But Dec. 25, 1967, was the loneliest day of Gent’s life.
Back home in Kaufman the family had gathered at his mother and daddy’s house. However, Gent, a scout sniper in the U.S. Marine Corps, was spending his 26th birthday in California at a staging battalion awaiting transport to Vietnam.
Gent’s college deferment had come and gone following his graduation from Texas Tech University in 1966. He knew his draft notice was forthcoming, so Gent had opted to join the Corps.
“I had wanted to be a Marine since I was a kid,” he explained.
Gent graduated from Camp Pendleton’s sniper school in April 1967 and was one of only 90 school-trained snipers in the Marines.
Going to Vietnam was one of his goals
Texas County Progress
The Official Publication of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas
