Day is special for three-time vet

For all veterans, Veterans' Day is a special day, but for Hank Nosek, it is three times as important.

Nosek is a three-time veteran, having served in the Army Air Corps and the U.S. Air Force in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He said Veterans' Day is an important event for him, because it allows him to reflect on his service, and the people who stood beside him in the line of battle.

"Veterans' Day to me is about standing here reminiscing and thinking about my friends that I left behind there," Nosek said.

Nosek and a friend went to a recruiters office right after Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 to enlist. He ended up signing up on Jan. 6, 1942.

"He asked if we had girlfriends, and told us to spend Christmas and New Year's with them before we enlisted," Nosek said with a chuckle.

His time in uniform took him around the world, from the Arctic to Australia. His units routinely had to outrun submarines during World War II.

"We were outrunning subs all the way to the Virgin Island," he said.

Nosek was also in the Pearl Sea Battle in which the Lexington was sunk.

"We sweated that one out," Nosek explained.

It wasn't enough to drive Nosek from the military. He ended up serving until 1966, covering a 25-year career in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Nosek is proud of his service, and rightfully so. Not many veterans have seen combat in three different wars as Nosek has. That's why he proudly wears his hat, designating him as a three-time veteran.

"I started wearing the cap not so much to be ostentatious with it, but to remind younger people that we are still out here," Nosek said. "We're still kicking around."