Crisman is a Veteran of the Vietnam War. In August of 1974 at the age of 17, after his parents signed off, John joined the Navy and served until August of 1978. Due to his age, he was in reserve status until September of 1974 when he turned 18. He served 6 years in the Navy; four of those were active duty with two years as a reserve drillist, which left him on call by the Navy should he be needed to serve again. John went to boot camp for 12 weeks in San Diego, CA. After boot camp, he attended the Naval Hospital Corps School in San Diego. John trained for four to five months to become a Hospital Corpsman. A hospital corpsman assisted health care professionals who provided care to Navy personnel and their families. As a hospital corpsman, he was loaned out to other military units, with a lot of his time spent with Marine Corp units due to their lack of medical personnel.

John spent a year as part of the 1st Marine Division 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion. This division was located on the beach. Crisman was a hospital corpsman for the battalion and would render first aid when needed. With this battalion there were very few injuries, mainly just hand injuries. After that year, John was sent to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, CA. In August of 1977, Crisman received orders to go to Okinawa, Japan. While in Okinawa, John was a part of the 3rd Marine Division 2nd Battalion 4th Marines. Crisman’s job while there was the supply man for the unit. It was a very mentally and physically challenging job with the constant movement of supply boxes to shore and on ships. In October, his unit was moving toward Korea as a part of an advanced party. By January of 1978, Crisman was back in Okinawa. His unit did a lot of floating. They floated in and out of Korea three times and toward Taiwan.

When John returned state-side, he still had several months left in the Navy. He had wanted to go to Independent Duty School but could not get into any of the schools he was interested in, so he decided not to re-enlist. John was discharged from the Navy as an E5, a Petty Officer 2nd Class. He re-enlisted in the Naval Reserve and retired in May of 1996 as a Senior Chief Petty Officer.

Crisman wishes that he would have climbed Mt. Fuji while he had the chance in Japan. While near Mt. Fuji, John recalls there always being a layer of fine volcanic ash on everything.

Crisman received many medals/ ribbons/campaigns including Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Service Medal, Navy Reserve Good Conduct Medal, Active-Duty Good Conduct Medal, Expert Rifle Medal, Navy Commendation Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and the National Defense Medal.

After being honorably discharged from the Navy, John moved back home to help on the farm and attend college. Crisman attended South Dakota State University (SDSU) and double majored in Mechanized Ag and Precision Ag with a minor in Agronomy. While attending SDSU, John met his wife, Tracy Wait who was majoring in animal science. They have three daughters Carrie, Jayne and Miranda. Carrie is a teacher in Sioux Falls and Miranda is a teacher in Stickney. Jayne is a logistics officer and Captain in the Air Force who has been selected for Major. She will be deploying in October to Kuwait.

John has farmed since he returned home from the Navy. He also worked for the Charles-Mix Sheriff’s Department as a public safety dispatcher and jailer for 27 years until he retired in 2022. He enjoys tinkering with machines/ mechanics, camping, boating, spending time with his family and his two grandsons, Adam and William.

Crisman has been a part of many local organizations including the Marine Corp League in Yankton for four years, a Masonic Lodge member in Armour, over 20 years as a member of the American Legion in Wagner and before joining Wagner’s American Legion was a member of the Watertown American Legion. John has had the honor of being asked to be a part of the Wagner American Legion Honor Guard and has been a member since May of this year.

Thank you, John for being the September Veteran of the Month and thank you for your service.