Glenn Walton: Celebrating America through Local Eyes

Local veterans and heroes will be sharing their thoughts on what makes Marco and America special by answering some patriotic questions. It’s our way to honor those whose dedication and sacrifices make our Island community shine. 

Glenn Walton

Born in Boynton Beach, Glenn Walton is a second-generation Floridan! Moving to North Carolina with his family upon his father’s return from deployment in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, Walton graduated from North Duplin High School in 1987 and enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after.

Walton did his basic training at Ft. Jackson in SC and his AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Ft. Gordon, GA. Following this, he was assigned to Ft. Bliss, Texas (1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1-43 ADA)).

He served as a member of the United States Army from 1987–1989, reaching the rank of E-4 (Specialist). He was a Patriot crew member; his military occupational specialty was 31M (Multichannel Communications Equipment Operator). The Patriot battery relied heavily on its Antenna Mast Group (AMG) for ultra-high-frequency communications to link the engagement control station with launching stations. 31M were tasked with setting up and maintaining these complex line-of-sight and multichannel radio networks while also working inside the firing unit’s command node to ensure communication was constant.

After two years in the Army, he joined the North Carolina National Guard from 1989-1994 and was a radio operator for the first few years before deciding to go to Officer Candidate School (a short, intensive military training program that commissions eligible enlisted personnel as commissioned officers). He graduated as a second lieutenant and led a platoon for over a year before resigning and concentrating on his civilian career.

He used the GI Bill to further his education and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Poultry and Science from NC State.

He moved to Marco Island in 1998.He has been working for BESCO Structures for almost 29 years as a Quotation Program Coordinator, generating quotations for prefabricated custom-engineered steel buildings for the agricultural industry, and assists in other facets of the organization.

If you could travel back in time to one event in our Island’s history, which one would it be?

I would like to go back to the start of Deltona’s development of the Island. I would love to see the thought process and all the effort put into making Marco Island what it is today. It would have been awesome to be on the team that designed our island. Marco has become my home, and I have made so many great friends here; many have become family to me. I met my wife, Mary Quinton, in the old Nacho Mama’s Tent.

What is one thing that makes you proud to be an American?

Wow, I only get to pick one? There are so many reasons to be proud to be an American. I think I am most proud of our freedom of speech. We all have different opinions, but at the end of the day, we all come together to make the United States of America the greatest country in the world. I also appreciate the fact that I have friends who have different views and despite that, we are still friends and can still hang out. If you look around the world, this is a very rare thing.

If you would like to nominate a Veteran or local hero to be featured in Celebrating America Through Local Eyes, contact Brittany Richards at brittany@coastalbreezenews.com.