Reasons to celebrate: Lubbock veteran says Independence Day shows freedom worth fighting for

Carlton Hatchett, a Korean War veteran, has seen the South Plains and the country grow into what it is today.

Without the service of those willing to fight for freedom, he notes, those freedoms we celebrated this Independence Day would not be possible.

Hatchett said being in the Army meant fighting for America and other countries' freedom and he saw many men and women wear the Army gear in his lifetime. With his father serving in World War I, his older brother in World War II and his younger brother who served in Vietnam, the Hatchett family has a long line of soldiers, and Carlton Hatchett was no different. 

In 1953, Hatchett was drafted into the Korean War while he was studying agriculture at Texas Tech. Hatchett said that a meeting with Dean W. L. Stangel helped him ensure he would keep the semester of credits he finished before his departure to the Army. 

"I said, Dean, this is April, and the school will be over in May, and I've just received notice from the draft board and I need to report to them," Hatchett said. "(Stangel) said, 'Well, how're your grades?' (I said) 'Well they are passable, and (Stangle) said 'OK, everything you pass with C or above where you don't have to take your final exam we'll give you credit for the semester.'" 

In 1953, Hatchett was off and stayed for two years on active duty, responsible for helping the equipment get to its final destination while in Korea. 

Hatchett said going overseas and helping a foreign country in their fight for independence and freedom like he and every other American has was "worth it." 

 In a ceremony with a Korean general in 2019, he said he saw the gratitude the South Korean people gave to veterans like him for helping them away from tyranny. 

"He got up and voiced publicly that he was so proud of the Americans and what they did for Korea, that he will ever be able to repay (us) and we honor you as veterans because what you've done for us so Korea is very, very proud," Hatchett said. "And we're glad that we were there to help them out and get them back on track." 

After being discharged in 1961, Hatchett returned and received his agricultural degree at Tech and continued to live in the land of the free. Hatchett said the freedom Americans have comes with a cost, but he and many others continue to fight for the freedom Americans still hold today. 

When asked what freedom meant to him, Hatchett replied, "It's the freedom that we have to do what we want to do it how we want to do it. We don't have to answer to anybody but God. And so we were proud of our forefathers fought for what they did and wrote the Constitution and the way they decorated the Constitution the way they do. And it's just a wonderful place to live. 

Now, at 90 years old, Hatchett has raised two daughters and has a great-granddaughter studying to be a nurse at Tech. God, he said, is the reason he is here today and flies his American flag outside his home every day. 

"But (flying) it is just a way of honoring our country, honoring God and honoring the people that live here and the people that have served," Hatchett said. "I don't know how to express it, but it's just an honor to have served in the military and if I had to do it over again, I probably would have stayed in the military longer than I did."