Youngest Soldier Fades Away : Army Sergeant Who Joined at 13 Retires

Master Sgt. Gilbert Zamora, who at 13 was the youngest soldier in the Army since the Civil War, retired in special ceremonies here Friday.

Standing ramrod straight, the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Los Angeles native, now 52, was saluted for his long and colorful career by a military band, 550 marching troops and the commanding general of this huge Army depot. His wife looked on with pride, and wept.

“We are honoring a great sergeant, who for the love of his country lied about his age and became the youngest soldier since the Civil War, a soldier who fought and was wounded in some of the toughest fighting in Korea, in Vietnam,” said Maj. Gen. Edwin H. Burba Jr., commander of Ft. Ord, a base with 30,000 military and civilian personnel.

Zamora was the last member of the 17th Infantry Regiment who fought in Korea and was still in active service. It was the historic 17th, a unit first organized in the War of 1812, that marched in parade formation to honor him.

In Korea, Zamora fought at Old Baldy, Alligator Jaws and Pork Chop Hill. He was shot and wounded in the A Shau Valley in Vietnam.

35 Years Active Duty

Earlier in the day, Zamora expressed his views about the Army to officers and men of the regiment for an hour and a half, reflecting on his 35 years of active duty. The left sleeve of his dress uniform was covered with gold hash marks attesting to his long years of service.

He said he was able to enlist at 13 because, by the eighth grade, he was already 6-foot-2 and weighed 195 pounds.

“One day I went to the headquarters of the 40th Infantry Division of the California National Guard in Glendale and said I wanted to join the Army. When they asked my age, I told them 17. I was given an application form and had a friend forge my parents’ signatures. They accepted me.”

But after the National Guard unit was activated and was about to be sent to the Korean battlefront, Zamora’s parents wrote a letter to the Army revealing his age. He was then 14, and was given an honorary discharge after 13 months of service.

Zamora went back to school, but he re-enlisted as soon as he turned 17, time enough for active duty in the Korean War.

‘Should Have the Draft’

“Soldiers today need more time in firing their rifles and tossing grenades,” the outspoken sergeant insisted. “We should have the draft. Females are needed in the Army but not to do the heavy work of men, as some are required to do.”

Zamora also praised the Army for maintaining racial harmony among its ranks. “No organization as large as ours in this country has succeeded in accomplishing racial equality as the Army has,” he said.

A young soldier asked Zamora what he thought about cutbacks in the military. The sergeant replied, “Bring back KP for the troops instead of paying millions of dollars for civilians to do it. KP is good for soldiers. I did my share. It didn’t hurt me. That will help eliminate some of the cutbacks.”

When it was all over, Zamora invited everyone to “meet me at the non-commissioned officers’ club at 1700--I’m buying.”