Clarence Singleton, USMC, FDNY, Vietnam, 9/11

Clarence Singleton joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967 while was still in high school. The valedictorian then went through boot camp at Parris Island and was eager to join the fight in Vietnam. He arrived in early 1968 and endured a major rocket attack on his first night there. He would be seriously wounded just days before his tour in Vietnam was set to end.

Several years later, he joined the New York City Fire Department and ended up responding to both terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Singleton tells us how Parris Island changed him and prepared him for war. He describes combat in Vietnam and takes us through the day he was shot multiple times by enemy forces.

Singleton then tells us about responding to the 1993 terrorist bombing at the World Trade Center and how he helped a woman going into premature labor. He also details rushing to the twin towers on 9/11 even though he had retired a year earlier and shares how he miraculously survived the collapse of the North Tower.