When General Douglas MacArthur said, citing an old barracks song, many years ago, “old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” he was referring to old soldiers like Frank Head, who turned 104 on Tuesday. Frank, a Carter County native, was drafted into the U.S. Army in October 1942 and served in WWII.

Frank’s 104th birthday was celebrated with a party held at the James H. Quillen VA Medical Center (VA) in Johnson City. In attendance was his daughter, Judy Reed, Dean Borsos, VA medical director, many VA staff and members of the veteran’s honor group, Rolling Thunder.

The birthday event waxed congressional when a special letter written to Frank personally by Congressman Phil Roe was read to him by a VA staffer. The letter ended with “your tenacity is a beacon of hope to us all…Happy birthday!”

Frank Head led a full and event-filled life even before he was drafted. According to his daughter, Judy, Frank was born in Limestone Cove, a little community surrounded by lush hills in Unicoi County on March 19, 1915. His father, William, was a farmer, teacher, and a Methodist preacher, and his mother, Dora, was a homemaker.

After spending much of his childhood working on the farm with his family, in 1936, Frank moved to Elizabethton to take a job at the then-new Bemberg Plant. This is where he met his wife-to-be, Ida Marie. Frank and Ida married in April 1942. In August, just two months before he was drafted, Frank was elected in Unicoi as then the youngest circuit court clerk.

In a statement released by Frank’s daughter, Judy, she was born while Frank was serving in the Army, however, he returned briefly to see his family when Judy was almost three.

The statement also reveals that Frank served with distinction during WW11 after being assigned to the 3rd Brigade, a platoon of approximately 40. The brigade was stationed in the South Pacific theater, where it served in the conflicts around New Guinea and the Philippines.

When Frank returned from the war, he settled with his family in the Range community of Carter County. It was here that he started attending Slagles United Methodist Church and served on its Board of Trustees for many years.

Some of Frank’s most notable post-war accomplishments include serving for six years as president of the Range Community Club, 24 years as county commissioner for the 13th District and founding and serving with the Watauga Volunteer Fire Department.

When asked what her father’s most memorable memory was in a life full of service, Judy said it was, “he had the privilege of serving his country.”