Profile, The Hinton Family

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The Hinton Family
By Master Sgt. Bob Haskell / National Guard Bureau
SALT LAKE CITY, UT. ? William Wallace Whitman rarely talked about all that he experienced during World War II, especially about the final 14 months when he was a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany after the young bombardier bailed out of an Army Air Corps bomber before it crashed.

But four other men in his family, citizen-soldiers in the Utah Army National Guard, are perpetuating Mr. Whitman's legacy of military service in a way that neither he nor they could have imagined when he died three years ago at the age of 74.

Meet the Hintons. Adrian, the father, and three of his four sons, Todd, Jason and Russell, have earned their keep as enlisted members of the National Guard's Homeland Defense force that has been formed to help keep the XIX Winter Olympics safe, secure and successful.

Mr. Whitman was the father of Michele Hinton, Adrian's wife of 33 years. She is a registered nurse and the mother of their seven children including the three sons who serve with their father in the same Army Guard outfit located in St. George, beside Utah's southwestern corner.

That is Charlie Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 222nd Field Artillery, whose modern 155mm, self-propelled Paladins would ordinarily be the backbone of its wartime mission. Todd, a sergeant, and Russell, a specialist, report to their father, a staff sergeant, who is the battery's ammo section chief. Jason, also a specialist, is a cook.

As the Hintons and thousands of other Guard members now know, these are not ordinary times and this new war against terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks is not an ordinary war.

Therefore, wearing full individual combat gear and patrolling the perimeter around the expansive Salt Palace, where the international media is based, in Salt Lake City was their principal duty while the four Hintons were on Olympic duty together. They also scanned people with magnetometers and inspected backpacks and packages for weapons and other dangerous things.

When the Games opened across town at the University of Utah campus on Friday night, Feb. 4, the Hintons were performing their patriotic and constitutional duty in the city block adjacent to Temple Square, the center of their Mormon faith.

The artillery soldiers underwent two full days of intensive training before assuming the Olympic mission, Adrian explained.

The three sons were on active duty for 27 days before returning to their families and civilian jobs on the Salt Lake City Games' third day. Adrian, an associate professor of horticulture and Cooperative Extension agent at Utah State University, is in for the full 45-day duration until after the Games end on Feb. 24.

"My father was a prisoner of war. Adrian's father, Carlon, belonged to the Utah National Guard before the war. My children have grown up knowing it's very important to serve your country and protect your flag," Michele Hinton explained.

"We live in different places, so the monthly drills are a kind of family reunion for them," she added. "The four of them serving in the Guard together is a special thing for our family."

It is so special that the other son, Randall, who lives in St. George, intends to join the Air National Guard after metal pins are removed from his shoulder, Adrian explained.

"Our family's military roots run very deep," said Adrian who was drafted soon after marrying Michele and earning his animal science degree in 1969. He received orders to go to South Vietnam three times but spent his first two years in uniform as a preventative medical specialist and mess hall inspector at Fort Bragg, N.C.

"We all knew before Sept. 11 that we would be spending some time on security duty during the Olympics," Adrian said. "After Sept. 11, everything changed here in Utah. This is an experience we'll never forget. We have a better idea of what active duty would be like, and we've developed a camaraderie with other Guard people we didn't know before."

After terrorists attacked New York City and Washington, D.C., in hijacked airliners, the original National Guard force of 1,500 was tripled to support the new demands for security that has surrounded but certainly not stifled the Winter Games in northern Utah.

There is nothing new about members of the same family serving together in the same outfit. The National Guard is, after all, a family and a community-oriented organization.

The new twist is that many of them are serving together in a way they have never known before.

The Winter Olympics is the second straight national security special event in which Guard members have reinforced federal, state and local law enforcement agencies this year. More than 5,000 Guard members have been slated to support these Games.

Several hundred members of the Louisiana Guard did the same jobs before, during and after Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, the lead security agency for both events.

Ironically, the New England Patriots won the riveting contest that also celebrated America's patriotic spirit and that was protected by what was described as the biggest security effort in the history of football.

The security duty at airports and for high-profile events such as the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, some observers claim, has created a renewed sense of urgency and commitment among National Guard units that were already squared away.

"Our unit seems to have tightened up even more than it was before," said Jason, who is 26 and who runs his own marketing business - specializing in troubled teens. "We have a lot more ID checks, and our military records have been brought completely up to date. We're taking this very seriously."

His grandfather Whitman would occasionally talk about his good and bad experiences during World War II, Jason recalled. Then he said: "Adding to his legacy by participating as National Guard soldiers during the Winter Olympics has been very exciting to me and to all of us."