World War II Veteran Shares War Stories
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You’d never know that Coy Sullivan’s steady hand once was injured in World War II, or that the 93 year-old man is a two-time Purple Heart recipient. “The first time I got hit, just got hit in the hand. The second time I got hit through the legs here and the heel,” said Sullivan. “And that’s when they put the little oak leaf cluster on my Purple Heart.” Sullivan was born and raised in West Tennessee. A farm boy, he never left the confines of Decatur and Henderson Counties until he was drafted to serve the U.S. National Guard just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. “I thought it was an awful big world when I got in there,” said Sullivan. After his second injury, Sullivan headed back to Decatur County with decoration and a new skill. “Over in the Philippines there was a little boy in a tent that looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to draw my tools out and you cut my hair.’ And I said, ‘Alright,'” said Sullivan. “I set it up on a C-ration box and went to cutting his hair. And before I got through, somebody else stepped up there and they thought I was a barber.” It’s a skill he’s put to use for a long time. “It’ll be almost.. about 63 years I guess barbering,” said Sullivan. “I like to meet people, that’s why I reckon I stayed on it. I didn’t make a lot of money but at least I enjoyed it.” Sullivan still tells war stories to those who sit in his chair, and reflects back on the time he served his country. “I think it’ll learn you to respect the elders and the one over you,” said Sullivan. “And it gets you more on your own.” He says he’ll never lose pride in the country he served. “I think it’s the best country in the world,” said Sullivan. Sullivan still barbers full time in Parsons and says at agge 93, he may just be too old to retire.
